Phantoms
by Daughter of Ashes
Summary: It's been 16 years since Kyubi came to Konoha. When people begin to suffer and die some old secrets come to light that may explain why the demon came to the village, and Nauto may learn he was more than a human sacrifice.(Story on Hold)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

Author's note: Hi I'm new to Naruto fanfiction. I've had this idea for a Naruto story for awhile so I thought I'd start writing it and see if it worked out.

**Addition**: If you have read this chapter before you are probably wondering what the heck this is…Well I started out doing some minor revisions and ended up rewriting the whole chapter. Personally I like the way this version turned out better. I'd appreciate the opionion of anyone who already read it. If you have any comments please tell me in a review or message me, I don't have a beta right now so I rely a lot on my readers.

Please let me know what you think. I do quite a bit of writing (fanfiction and other work) so I like to get feedback.

This is set just as Naruto returned from his 3 years with Jiraiya. So in this story some of the events in the manga might not necessarily happen.

Phantoms

Chapter 1

A depraved thought entered Naruto's consciousness. 'If we'd left five minutes earlier, Sakura and I would be eating Ramen right now.' He shook his head and scolded his own selfish thought. Scenarios of self punishment began working themselves out in his head as he struggled once again to distract himself from what he was doing, carrying a girl covered in blood through the back alleys of Konoha was a privilege that he wished never to enjoy again.

He kept reminding himself that none of the blood actually belonged to her…at least he hoped it didn't. Hinata didn't seem injured to him, she was just in shock and had passed out. She did that a lot if he remembered correctly, he hadn't seen her in three years after all.

This was not turning out to be the homecoming he'd anticipated. When he'd walked though the gates earlier that morning he'd been hoping to see some old friends, eat some good food, and sleep in a real bed for a change. Things had been going well, Sakura had even offered to buy him dinner at Ichiraku. Though she had been overly clear that it was only a welcome home present from a teammate, but he was fine with that now.

That was when the day had turned dark.

He'd dropped his things off at home and met Sakura by a back entrance to the hospital where she'd had to do some work. Casually, the two old teammates began making their way to the boy's favorite ramen stand. Sakura had been teasing him about something, though he now couldn't remember what, when there was a crash of metal as the small frame of a girl rounded a corner. In her haste Hinata had knocked several forgettable things to the ground.

The dim light of the alley at sunset made the sight surreal to behold. The blood spattered on her face made the Byakugan eyes even more potent, almost glowing in his memory. She stared at the two of them for what seemed like hours to Naruto before she spoke.

"Help," she pleaded in a voice that made Naruto believe she was in pain.

She walked towards them lifting the bloody heap she was carrying higher. Both of team 7's survivors gasped as she started to bring it over to them. "Please Sakura-san…" she continued pleading as she walked.

Naruto desperately searched the crumpled form for animal features, any animal feature to alleviate the sick feeling that was rising in him. He wanted so badly for that thing not to be human but he couldn't deny the truth as the small frame became clearer and clearer, it was a small body that could only belong to a child not yet out of the academy.

"Help her Sakura," they were face to face with the desperate Hyuuga now.

"Hinata, I think she's," Sakura half-reached out with her hand, twitching away as if afraid to touch. "I think she's dead."

It was only after Sakura had said the Hyuuga girl's name that Naruto realized who she was.

"No, please help her Sakura-san," the girl rasped. "Please, she my sister." Hinata made one last plead while tying to extend the small girl's body towards her.

Sakura's hands remained in a standoffish position, but her expression was now sympathetic instead of fearful. She was about to explain the child's mortality to her old classmate when there was a sudden violent twitch of the body proving that Hyuuga Hanabi had refused to stop living.

Within two seconds, and without a word, Hanabi was in Sakura's arms and headed for the hospital engulfed in the glow of green healing chakra. This left Hinata standing in the middle of the alley staring after them, her arms still outstretched

.Naruto stood in silence, alone with the frightened girl. He wondered desperately what to do, what could he possibly do?

"Hinata," he put his hand on her arm to try to break her out of her trance.

She jerked away and stared at him, fingering the spot where he had touched her. He started to apologize, afraid that he had overstepped some boundary.

"You're really here Naruto-kun," she asked.

He was taken aback, what an unusual question. "Um, yeah I just came back today."

"Oh," she responded, her eyes becoming limp. "I thought that I imagined you."

With those words Naruto saw the nearly transparent pupils roll back into her head as she fainted. Luckily the teen had snapped out from whatever force had held him and caught the girl before she hit the ground. He looked her over briefly and decided there was no need to panic over her condition. He gently lifted her and began his slow walk back to the hospital, ducking into more deserted alleyways as he went.

As he neared the secluded back doors he could feel the girl's body jerking slightly in his arms. The leftover adrenaline in her body was threatening to force her awake soon. He didn't know what he should say to her when she woke up.

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Hyuuga Hiashi repeatedly slammed his fist into his favorite training target. Something about the off center red mark made him want to hit it more then the others, even though it was impractical to do so.

He could not hold in the internal storm, he excused himself from the house to release it.

The bones in his hand were beginning to strain from the force but still he continued, he needed to get control. He couldn't risk anything now.

"Hiashi-sama," called a voice from his right. After a final satisfying strike he turned to see a young branch family member his right, taking extra care to bow this night.

"What is it now," he replied emotionless.

The man looked nervously to the crooked target then to the man who had struck it. "There is a Chuunin messenger to see you."

The Hyuuga head furrowed his brow at the sound of that, the veins of his Byakugan slightly beginning to take shape. "Bring him in." As the young man turned Hiashi buried his hands in the folds of his black gi, hiding them completely before the Chuunin boy approached. He recognized this one, the over intelligent Nara boy who the Hokage like to use as an errand boy. "Why have you been sent here?"

Shikamaru scoffed, he never liked the attitude he got from people like Hiashi. "The Hokage sent me to tell you that both of your daughters are at the hospital," he paused when he didn't see an obvious reaction. "She said she hadn't heard from you so she figured you didn't know."

"She's correct," he replied. "I had no idea that my daughters were there."

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly, he was beginning to see why Hyuuga's grew up so maladjusted.

"Why are they there," he finally asked.

"I don't know," Shikamaru answered honestly. He could tell that there was some large commotion involved with the Hyuuga girls but it was still unusual for a messenger to be sent to a parent without a report of what was wrong with the child.

"Then I suppose I will be heading there momentarily," he turned and walked back to the house. "You may go boy."

Shikamaru stood there for a minute, staring at the retreating back of the clan head. 'Damn these old assholes in power,' he thought. Taking the older man's orders he turned on his heel and began making his way back out of the Hyuuga complex. He was glad as hell to be leaving too, it was eerie to be in a house where hundreds of people lived and not a sound above a whisper could be heard.

Well maybe there was one sound. He heard it once again as he got closer to the front gates. There was a long stretch of rooms coming up, he remembered an older Chuunin once telling him that they were the rooms that the Branch family occupied. Shikamaru paused so the sound of his feet wouldn't muffle what he wanted to decipher.

He was positive that he could hear people crying, and it was coming from there.

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Hinata jumped up from her seat when she felt a rush of cold fill her hands. She calmed down when she realized that it was simply a soda can.

"Hinata, are you okay?"

The girl looked at the boy who had offered her the drink. Her emotions were in such turmoil that she had abandoned the usual nervousness that she reserved for his company. "It's alright Naruto-kun," she dully replied without the hint of a stutter. She sat back down and opened the drink.

Naruto sat down as well, glad that she finally said something. When she had first woken she was confused, she had looked at him as if she'd seen a ghost and seemed about to faint again when she looked down at herself. The sight of the blood that was still covering her triggered a small scream. Afterwards she curled her legs to her chest in her chair and began shaking.

Naruto felt he didn't know her well enough to hug her or anything like that, so he got her a drink instead. He figured that it was a gesture that a good friend could do, and he really did want to make her feel better. She'd always been a sweet girl, he didn't have a single memory of her ever making fun of him. He couldn't even say that about many of his closest friends.

"Where's Hanabi Naruto-kun," she finally asked in a weak whisper.

He turned to face her only to find that her eyes remained on the drink in her hands. "Is that your sister's name,' he asked.

She only nodded in reply. He breathed deep before he answered. He wished that her parents or her teammates were here, they would know the best way to break the news to her. "Sakura took her remember," he stopped there hoping that was enough of an answer but she turned her head to look at him. "She's still with her. When we got here a nurse told me that Sakura was with her and the Hokage was coming." He wished he hadn't mentioned that last part, she probably didn't want to hear that her sister was so injured that one of the best medical ninjas who ever lived was rushing over.

The silence resumed again save for the patter of hospital feet. Naruto noticed a nurse out of the corner of his eye, she was pointing them out to another woman across her counter. The second woman stared at them hard and then covered her mouth to hide a gasp.

Naruto grabbed the seat of his chair and set himself back down where he blocked their view. He wasn't about to let people point and stare at the girl. Hinata noticed his actions but he decided not to explain himself.

Hinata had now put down her drink and instead was picking at the dried blood on her hands and forearms. Naruto stared in morbid fascination for a few minutes before he decided to voice his protest. "Hinata, one of the nurses told me earlier that you could borrow some hospital clothes once you woke up, I'm sure they'd let you….."

"I don't want to," she quickly snapped.

Naruto just stared at her, he hadn't expected her to react like that. "I'm sorry, I just thought that you wouldn't want…I mean…" He couldn't find and ending for his sentence that didn't sound depressing, and that would defeat his purpose as the cheerful friend.

"It makes no sense that Hanabi is hurt," she murmured aloud. Naruto had a feeling that she was really talking to herself and not to him but he decided to take a chance and ask her about it. If for anything else he wanted to know who to hate for what he'd seen done to that child.

"I'm sorry about your sister," he paused. "Are you ready to tell what happened, I can go get someone so you can tell them who hurt her."

"No," she choked. "Hanabi was not hurt by anyone."

Naruto just stared at her, he wondered if she was serious or simply frightened of someone. Her mood was jumping up and down too fast to really know. "Was it an accident then?"

"No, Hanabi was hurt….but there was nothing." She started shaking again as she remembered. "Father will be so angry."

"I'm sure your parents are going to be glad that you're okay, and you got her help so they won't be angry Hinata."

As soon as the word parents had left his mouth he saw tears leak from her eyes for the first time. "No, Father will be angry," she cried.

"But there's nothing for him to be angry at you about," he tried to reason with her. "You brought Hanabi to the hospital."

"No," she cried her voice starting to become hoarse. "I saw her fall," she chocked. "I went into the room when I saw she wasn't moving." She looked at him helplessly but he didn't know what he could say to her. "There was no one there so it makes no sense that Hanabi is hurt."

When she began crying again Naruto reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. Hinata overextended his gesture and leaned forward against his left arm, the pressure of her weight enough to push him back into his seat. He could feel her shaking through the fabric of his jacket sleeve. He never took his hand away from where he placed it on her shoulder, but gave it a gentle squeeze whenever her sobs became more powerful.

Naruto found himself stretching his mind to find every scattered memory he had of this girl. He wondered what he'd ever done in their past to make her trust him enough to cry on his shoulder. He remembered her mostly for being the shy girl that always looked away whenever you tried to talk to her, but she had character, he knew that from their chuunin exam. Then his mind wandered back to their academy days, where every memory that flashed into his mind was of a girl sitting all by herself. She'd never clustered with other girls to talk about boys or follow Sasuke around. He wondered if she had any friends at all back then. She'd been all by herself just like him, nobody really bothering to pay attention. He had compensated by making trouble for any adult who crossed him but she had remained quiet, as far from the trouble as she could place herself. Perhaps that was the reason she would let him see her cry. Maybe she thought another lonely person was somebody she could trust.

Eventually her tears must have run out because she finally stopped and pulled away from him. She gave him a look that seemed slightly embarrassed, as if she'd only just realized what she'd done. Naruto took that as a positive change, a bit more like the shy Hinata he remembered.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get a nurse so you can change clothes?"

"Yes."

He sighed in resignation. There was no possible way to understand her right now. He was sure that pushing her more would only upset her again, and he was correct. She was glad that he didn't say anything more, didn't ask questions, instead only sitting with her so she did not have to be alone.

"Naruto," came a voice out of the blue. Both of the teens had almost lost awareness of their surroundings in the midst of Hinata's emotional outburst. They turned to see the Hokage standing in the middle of the small lobby, Jiraiya a few feet behind. "Come here Naruto, we need to talk to you."

"Okay," he responded half-heartedly. He looked to Hinata, as if to ask permission to leave her. The empty Byakugan eyes seemed to plead with him not to go but he found himself standing up anyway. "I'll come back in a minute Hinata-chan," and then they walked away to an abandoned corner out of Hinata's sight.

The air around Hinata seemed to grow cold without his presence. She grabbed the soda can he had given her back up from a table, spilling some of the liquid as she did so. He had given it to her, even if he really hadn't meant it to be anything, holding onto it would make her feel better until he came back.

Her mind wandered again, causing the tears to return. Images of Hanabi falling flashed across her memories, the thud from her body hitting the floor vibrating in her ears as if it were happening all over again. She put her hand on her stomach where the blood was still moist, the sticky feeling assuring her that the horror was in deed past. She was not looking at Hanabi's face that was slashed and torn or running through the back alleys, she had done what she could, but in her heart she did not believe she had done enough.

Dents formed on the sides of the metal can as it caved in under her shaking hands. She wanted to faint again and escape, she tried to will it to happen but her body betrayed her.

Suddenly an icy voice showered over her, waking every sense to full attention. "Hinata where is Hanabi?"

She looked up to see her father's intense gaze. Anger was building inside of him, she could feel it pushing her deeper into her seat. The clan head was holding it a bay as he always did, but she could tell the breaking point was coming. The veins at the edges of his Byakugan were already twitching.

He grew impatient with her. In the space of a second he had taken her by her upper arms and pulled her face within inches of his. "I asked you where your sister was."

"Medic nins," was all she could come up with in her surprise. She ground her teeth and curled her toes, a trick she'd used since she was a child to keep her voice from crying out. The pressure of his hands on her arms was searing, she knew without looking that she would have bruises by this time tomorrow.

He began looking her up and down, never releasing his grip. Now Hinata wished she would have listened to Naruto, then her father wouldn't have seen the blood.

"Hiashi-sama, may I have a word." Finally the pressure released and Hinata was free again. Her father turned from her and addressed the medic who called to him.

Hinata stayed where she was, staring at her father's retreating back. Was he really going to turn away from her now, couldn't he see how much she was suffering. She wrapped her arms around herself, touching the injuries he'd left in his wake. She wondered if he would have shown as much restraint if there were not strangers around, she was frightened at that thought. She knew he was disappointed with her, but was she really that disregarded.

"…then drag every medic out of bed if my child is dying."

Hinata stepped back a pace at her father's rising voice. His words meant that Hanabi was still alive but her chances of surviving couldn't have been high. She started to pay attention to the words the medic was saying. She recognized that woman as the Hokage's assistant, Shizune, senior apprentice to Sakura.

"Every measure is being taken to care for your daughter Hiashi-sama," she paused. "I won't lie, her chances of survival are small."

Hiashi advanced towards the Jounin, attempting to intimidate. Shizune was a poor choice for him to use as a target, she stood firm where she was.

"I demand the Hokage become involved in her treatment."

"Of course Tsunade-sama is involved. She has examined the girl and given specific orders for her care."

This did not please Hiashi. "Such injury needs the care of her skilled hands."

"Her skilled hands should be used as a last resort if initial treatment does not work," Shizune retorted. "We wouldn't want the Hokage to be exhausted at a critical moment that could mean the life and death of a patient."

"The injuries are too severe," he hissed back at her. "How can the Hokage not be involved when her heart, lungs, or even liver might fail all at once."

This time it was Shizune's turn to take a step back. "Hiashi-sama, I did not say anything to you about your daughter's internal organs being damaged. How did you know?"

Her father said nothing and Hinata's eyes widened in surprise. "Father," she pleaded walking up to him. "Do you know what happened to Hanabi?" He looked at her for a moment then turned away again.

"No, I know nothing."

"But she said," Hinata gestured to Shizune. She was shaking but she didn't care if he saw now. "Please father, tell me, I want to understand. How was Hanabi hurt when nobody was there?"

"What do you mean," he asked his intense gaze upon her once again.

"I thought she was just being noisy, it was too late by the time I realized. I watched her through the wall for more then a minute and I called out to her twice."

"You mean you saw," he asked, anger causing his voice to crack.

"I saw her fall, and when she didn't get back up again I went into her room." She stopped, she didn't want to say what she saw.

"You didn't see anything," Hiashi hissed, advancing towards her slowly. "You were watching….with Byakugan …and you saw nothing?"

"Yes," she whispered.

Something broke inside Hiashi. He slammed his palm to his forehead and took a fistful of hair in his hands. He growled to himself and began muttering things under his breath, Hanabi's name was the only word Hinata could distinguish.

"Father," she called to him.

When he raised his eyes to her the Byakugan was completely exposed, the veins pulsing from the immense chakra. Hinata stood transfixed, she had never looked into another Byakugan this powerful before. There was a blue flash rising from his waist. Hinata knew that it would strike her between the eyes but she couldn't move, she just stared at the twin orbs of white as they rushed at her.

The pain that she had expected never came. As she came back to her senses she found herself on her back, something weighing her down, and she could hear screaming.

"NARUTO-KUN," She heard Shizune shout. Suddenly the woman's face loomed above her and she pulled at the thing weighing her down.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata echoed in a pained whisper. She saw his face as he was pulled off of her. The person that was screaming was him, he was in pain. His features looked twisted, and she swore his eyes had turned hellish red. She heard a crash and looked up just in time to see a white haired man strike her father to the ground.

Realization finally settling in she knew that her father had actually tried to kill her. How he'd done it was beyond her but Naruto had gotten in her father's way. She looked to her right where Shizune was applying power to his left shoulder. He had calmed down but still hissed in obvious pain.

It was too much, Hinata couldn't handle it anymore. She started screaming and pulling at her hair. She wanted her body to be in as much pain as her mind so she began hitting her head against the floor. She was stopped when the strong hands of the Hokage took hold of her face. Cold green chakra rushed to her left temple.

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"Tsunade-sama, Hyuuga Hanabi's condition has been stabilized."

Tsunade walked up to her younger and very exhausted apprentice. "Good work Sakura. For now I want you to go to a bed upstairs and rest for a bit. I'll come get you after a few hours, I want to discuss the injuries with you before you go home."

"Yes," she bowed thankfully. She had used so much chakra that her entire body hurt.

Shizune, who had walked in with Sakura, looked at her teacher incredulously. "Tsunade-sama, shouldn't you have gotten all the details of the injuries before dismissing her. The Hyuuga girl is still in recovery, what if something goes wrong."

Tsunade smirked, "I have a guide to go by right here."

Shizune gasped as the older woman dispelled an illusion that revealed the body of a boy lying on a table. His arms and face were shredded so severely that she could see exposed bone where the skin was shallow. Ugly holes hallowed out his face where his Byakugan should have been. A blanket covered his lower half to give the child his modesty in death, but Shizune could guess that the injuries were the same there. She also surmised that there would be severe internal damage once his body was cut open. "Tsunade-sama…who…"

The Hokage crossed her arms and walked up to the body. "This is Hyuuga Hatori," she began. "He was a 9 year old academy student and a member of the branch family of the Hyuuga," she indicated the caged bird seal which was eerily untouched. "ANBU have learned that he was found dead in his room about four hours ago."

"Another Hyuuga child," Shizune pondered. "But it was only three hours ago that Sakura and Naruto met Hyuuga Hinata in the alleyway."

"We assume that this child was attacked first." She crossed the room and sat down in a chair, balancing her chin on a bridge she made with her hands. "The Hyuuga were already preparing the boys body for cremation by the time the girl was attacked. They were trying to keep the boy's death secret."

"But why?"

"I don't know Shizune," she sighed. "I'll have to wait until the Hyuuga have been sorted out and questioned to get the answer."

"Do you honestly think that the Hyuuga will tell you the reason? Their clan is like a secret society within the village, many of them believe they are above our laws."

Tsunade laughed. "Yes I know that," she squeezed her eyes shut in frustration.

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune questioned, not understanding her teacher's expression.

"You," she emphasized, "have been treating that girl for the past two hours. So you haven't heard the order I gave to all Jounins."

"What order was that," she asked a bit nervously.

"Shortly after Hiashi's outburst I received word from ANBU that branch family members were fleeing the Hyuuga complex."

"Fleeing…but why?"

Tsunade leaned back looking away. "Apparently Hiashi really did not know about his daughters until I sent Shikamaru to him. After he left it got out that his daughter had also been attacked but she was at the hospital." She felt anxious once again so she stood up to pace the room. "The branch house started to accuse the head house of letting Hatori die while they saved a favored head child."

Shizune let this information settle into her mind. She supposed she could see where the situation would cause conflict but what the Hokage was implying was extreme. "They can't actually be fighting over it?"

"Oh they are," Tsunade groaned. "There are already a few Hyuuga dead."

Shizune's head jerked back at that. "Have they gone mad?"

"They aren't fighting over one child dying," Tsunade turned back to Hatori's body. "They are fighting over hundreds of years of the caged bird seal." She brushed Hatori's hair away from the ugly green mark, it would disappear as soon as the chakra that had supported it completely faded. "They are killing each other and taking their fight into the streets where innocent people can be hurt. So I ordered every available Jounin to arrest every single Hyuuga, children included."

"Is that really necessary Tsunade-sama?"

"They've made it so," she sighed. "This is a complete disaster, even worse then when the Uchiha clan was massacred."

"You're right," Shizune mused. "Quite a few of our valuable ninjas are Hyuuga, we'll be short handed if they must be locked away."

"Not just that," Tsunade's voice dripped with contempt. "These bastards have hurt the entire village. We're going to lose missions over this. People won't trust missions to ninjas from a village that can't control its own people."

"I didn't think about that," Shizune was now a bit worried. This really was a bad situation, and the village had enough problems already.

"And then I have to consider all the Hyuuga that are out on missions, and others have probably fled and are missing nin now, but it will probably be weeks before we can straighten them out." She grabbed a stone decoration off a book shelf and crushed it in her hand. "God I hate clans."

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune was concerned. "Do you still suspect Orochimaru was involved, now that this conflict in the Hyuuga has risen?"

"Well he's not ruled out," she replied coldly. "I can't help but think that this was a pet project he came up with a long time ago." She scowled thinking of her old teammate. "He would find a way to kill a Hyuuga in their own damn house…..Plus there are those other incidents from a few months ago to consider." Something seemed to suddenly click in her mind. "You did say that the older girl claimed she was watching?"

"Yes," Shizune nodded, "but she kept insisting that nothing was in the room." She paused, rethinking her words. "Or at least that seemed to be what she was saying, the girl was very upset."

"I don't blame her," Tsunade sighed. "However, her statements imply that whatever happened can't be seen by Byakugan."

"By the way Tsunade-sama?"

"Hmm," the older woman groaned, feeling irritated at the break in the conversation.

"How are Hinata-chan and Naruto-kun doing?"

"Oh," she relaxed a little bit. "They're both fine." Shizune breathed a sigh of relief, she'd been worried about them. "Naruto is healed and the girl was given some drugs to calm down and sleep." Tsunade seemed to be smiling to herself which confused Shizune.

"Tsunade-sama, why do you have that look on your face," she accused.

"It's just that the nurse told me that the Hyuuga girl would only take the drugs if Naruto promised to sit with her till she fell asleep….so he did."

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Back at the other end of the hall Naruto sat in a room with Hinata. Earlier the nurses had managed to get the girl to change her clothes but hadn't bothered to clean the rest of her. Naruto figured the least he could do for the girl was wash the blood from her hands, at least she wouldn't have to look at that when she woke up. He'd found some scrubbing cloths by the sink and was trying not to wake her as he worked but the girl's restless mind came back to the surface as her eyes fluttered open.

"Naruto-kun," she said slightly confused.

"Shh," he gestured with one finger. He lowered the hand he was cleaning to hide the blood from her view. "You should go back to sleep Hinata."

"Why," she asked staring at him blankly.

"Because if you don't…If you don't go back to sleep the Hokage will get mad at me."

She blinked in confusion for a few moments before responding. "Oh, I'm sorry Naruto-kun."

After that she drifted back off. Naruto was relieved that she didn't ask anything about her father or sister. He still didn't know about the girl and personally he hoped that her father's gut was still burning from where the perverted hermit hit him with a Rasengon. Maybe in her drug induced state she thought that it was only some bad dream that she'd had, he sure hoped so.

To be continued:

Well there you have it, first chapter finished. So if you like it let me know, or if you have suggestions (grammer, what was confusing, etc) let me know.

Thanks, for reading


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Can you believe it but I don't own Naruto!

Author's note: Hi everyone, thanks to all who have read this story thus far. Was the first chapter confusing? I'll try to be more straightforward from now on.

I tried putting this chapter up a couple of times on Sunday. When it didn't show up after my second attempt I thought that there was something wrong with my story and I took it this chapter off the site….turns out that it happened to everybody (oops), but I'd already taken it down by the time a couple of nice reviewers let me know. Oh well, live and learn I guess. So, sorry for the confusion but here it is now.

Phantoms

Chapter 2

Naruto felt a nudge at his shoulder but jerked away. "Leave me alone pervert hermit….I can't get up yet." He turned away and let drowsiness take over him once more. 'What's he doing up before me anyway,' he thought. 'I'm usually up for a couple of hours before he starts to feel his hangover.'

Then suddenly Naruto was literally shocked awake by a sharp pain that struck him between the shoulder blades of his exposed back. He screamed out his surprise and bolted halfway across the room before falling flat on his face. "Owww, dammit!" Naruto hissed as he lay on the floor waiting for the pain to dissipate. "What the hell was that?"

"Isn't it wonderful," came a cheerful but mocking voice that Naruto would know anywhere. Naruto turned to scowl at his former teacher who must have been smiling his ass off under that mask. "Look Naruto, it's my one finger Chidori," he said while waving around a ball of lightning at the end of his pointer's finger.

"I think I like 1,000 years of pain better," mumbled the teenager as he sat up. The older man laughed as Naruto looked around and began to recognize where he was. White walls, floors, drapes, and beds usually meant hospitals in his experience.

"Are you alright Naruto-kun," asked a feminine voice.

Naruto twisted his head to the right to see just who had addressed him. There was a woman standing by the door dressed in traditional Jounin wear. She looked like she'd just taken a couple of hits to the face but she still seemed pretty to Naruto. It was because of the clothes that he didn't recognize her right away. "Kurenai-sensei," he said standing up. He wasn't used to seeing her in anything but that weird dress that she always wore. "I'm fine."

"Good," she smiled back at him. "Thank you for taking care of Hinata."

Her words made his mind snap to full attention. Suddenly the unpleasant events of the previous night came flooding back. He walked over to the girl's bed, to assure himself that she was still alright. Sometime during the night she had freed her arms of the blanket that he'd tucked them into, and the crumpled sheets told him that she'd tossed in her sleep. She looked devastated, even in her unconscious state. Her body was twisted away from the light coming from the window, casting ugly shadows across her face. He wanted to turn her towards the light so they would go away.

"She'll be fine Naruto," the woman assured him. Naruto watched as the teacher walked over to her student and brushed a few stray locks of hair back into place.

"Of course she will be," Kakashi chirped from behind. Naruto was caught off guard when the Jounin took him by the elbow and began pulling him towards the door. "Well missions don't wait, let's get going."

"Hey…Hey, wait a minute," the teen protested. "I promised her I wouldn't leave," he whined. The two adults stared at him and his face reddened a bit when he realized what he'd just said out loud.

Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well don't worry about it Naruto. Kurenai-chan, will tell her that you had a mission won't you," he turned to the other Jounin.

"Of course," she nodded. "Naruto-kun…stay safe on your mission."

Naruto didn't say anything back, nor did he resist Kakashi when he was led out of the room and down the hall. He was fixated on the look that Kurenai had given him with her farewell. It was that same look of concern and perhaps even pity that she'd given to Hinata. He wondered why she'd looked at him like that.

----------------------------

"Leave us."

"Yes Hokage-sama," An ANBU guard bowed and walked out, the rest trailing at his heels.

Tsunade stared around at this specially made cell. The 3rd had actually designed it for Orochimaru shortly after his descent from the village, back then they had no idea how sick and powerful her old teammate would become. This cell wouldn't hold him for a day now. It seemed well suited for its current occupant today.

"Comfortable Hiashi," she chided him.

He didn't answer but strained a tiny bit against the paper seals that plastered his skin. He was seated, his arms and legs bound by metal chains and rods that were rooted into the floor. Medical machines that monitored his every bodily function hissed and beeped as he moved. A small alarm sounded as the machines detected something within him, and they responded with a fiery injection to a vein in his left arm. The sensation made Hiashi want to vomit, but he still had enough control to prevent it from happening.

"I'll just assume you're not," the Hokage chimed as she made herself comfortable in a chair across from him.

"Where are my daughters," the man finally hissed at her.

Tsunade didn't answer right away. She watched the equipment for a few moments. She could handle him if he got loose, but if drugs knocked him out she'd have to wait another 10 hours for a chance to talk to him again. When the hissing slowed she assured herself that he could stay conscious for at least the majority of the next hour, so she decide not to disconnect the machines.

"Well Hiashi, despite your best efforts you are still that father of two."

The sigh of relief that came from his lips did not escape her. The first good sign she'd seen all day. "Hinata was given some drugs to calm down and sleep for awhile, while Hanabi was treated for her wounds and has since been moved to recovery."

"Hanabi has survived those wounds," he asked, surprise evident in his voice. Tsunade saw that he had expected his daughter to die. She wasn't exactly surprised. Other Hyuuga had told ANBU that he had seen the body of Hyuuga Hatori before he left the complex. Once Shizune described the injuries to him he must have assumed that his daughter would have no chance of surviving. Hanabi however had a few elements on her side that Hatori didn't. First she was older and was better able to fight back, second she had been rushed for treatment, and third she was from the head family, so she was never taught that death was something she was supposed to lie back and accept.

"Yes, Hanabi is alive." She grabbed his head and lifted it up so he would look at her. "The full extent of her injuries is not something that I can determine for her right now." He only stared back blankly, not knowing what he should say. "I can't tell you the quality of life she will have, but I'm sure she will not be able to continue life as a ninja."

That statement made him jerk his head from her hand. Machines began hissing and beeping once more, this time Tsunade reached over and flipped a switch to silence them. She just watched silently as he fought his internal struggle. Anybody that paid any attention to the goings on of the Hyuuga head family knew that Hiashi had many of his ambitions invested in his younger child, most of them were now null.

"What about her eyes?" He pleaded turning back. "What was the damage to her eyes?"

Tsunade remained stone faced, he'd finally asked the dreaded question. She decided to just state the facts and let him absorb them, how he reacted was his own decision. "Restoring them was impossible, and the damage to the tissue was so extensive that they were completely removed."

He lowered his head to the ground again. He began to shake, the combination of stress an drugs coming out physically. "But Hinata is alright," he whispered.

"Yes."

"The Uzumaki boy, what about him," he questioned.

"He's fine," she snapped. She didn't expect him to be concerned about Naruto, and frankly she didn't want him to be. "He was healed shortly after you struck him."

"That's good," he said coolly. "I should thank that boy later."

"You're lucky Hiashi," she retorted with an icy tone. "If he wasn't what he was you probably would have killed any other boy his age." She paused, "And you're also lucky that it was Jiraiya who stepped in between the two of you." He looked back up to see her face again. "If I had reached you first you don't want to know what would have happened."

"Would you have killed me Hokage-sama?" His statement was slightly mocking. He was in no position to be talking to Tsunade like he was, as if he were still a man in high standing instead of the prisoner that he was.

"No," she nodded her head. "However," icy tone returning once more, "I wouldn't guarantee you would still have control of all of your bodily functions."

He didn't say anything, only staring at the floor in response. Tsunade waited a few minutes, expecting more questions about his daughters or his clan but he never asked them. She was sure that the ANBU guards had told him what was happening to the Hyuuga between his bouts of consciousness. That was probably the only reason that he wasn't demanding to be set free and threatening to have her removed as Hokage. He already knew that his clan was shamed.

"We need to talk about your clan Hiashi."

"How many are dead now," this confirmed what she had suspected, he did know about his clan's fall. His voice was devoid of all emotion, his mind was at its limit. Unfortunately for Tsunade, if she wanted to get the Hyuuga back under control she needed his help. This man was still their leader for the moment.

"Well since your clan went nuts there are 14 dead branch family members, 2 dead head family members, and 7 are still missing. We assume that those 7 have fled the village."

"Injuries," he asked.

"23 injured, but only 6 require hospital care." Tired of sitting she got up and began pacing the room. "There are actually more injuries to the Jounins that I sent to round your clan up. So far I've had to refuse 5 missions today because I don't have people to send on them." She thought about complaining about the other million problems that his clan was causing but held her tongue since it would make no difference.

"So Hiashi, how do you propose we solve this problem?"

-----------------------------------

"And I was actually there to see it Naruto." Kakashi's voice was too chipper for the story that he was telling. "The 3rd destroyed the laboratory the next day but it was right here under the village. Orochimaru was doing god knows what as we all slept."

Naruto trudged behind Kakashi as the older man spouted out tales from his ANBU days.

"If I'm remembering right it was right over there," Kakashi said pointing down a dark tunnel. "I'd take you to see but the 3rd…."

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto finally interrupted.

"Hmm…yes Naruto," he answered never turning around.

"Instead of telling me why you were in the sewer 20 years ago…could you tell me why we're in the sewer now?"

Kakashi put his fist under his chin. Naruto remembered this to be the gesture his teacher uses when he had to choose his words. "We're walking through the sewer because it's a way of leaving without everyone stopping you to ask about the 3 years you were gone."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, he didn't like the feel of this. When Kakashi had led him to the basement of the hospital he figured that they were going to meet with the Hokage before leaving, but instead he found that they were just leaving through the underground.

"What's the mission anyway," he asked hoping to finally get some idea of what was going on from that.

"Just a simple B-rank," he suddenly limped. It was the third time that Naruto noticed, but like the last two stumbles Kakashi kept on walking.

"What's wrong with your leg Kakashi-sensei?"

"Don't worry about it," he said with his fist under his chin again. Naruto was starting to get angry and Kakashi could feel it even though he couldn't see the teen's face. He had hoped to get out of town without a bunch of questions.

"Why are we walking through the sewer to leave the village for a B-rank mission," he shouted.

"QUIET," Kakashi shouted back even louder. Naruto recoiled a few steps, not expecting such a reaction from the usually lazy man. Seeing the shock on his student's face Kakashi took a deep breath to calm himself. 'It's been a long night,' he thought.

"Naruto, when you are a Ninja sometimes just have to do what you are ordered to do." He gauged Naruto for a reaction. Surprisingly he was just standing there listening instead of yelling back. Kakashi mused to himself that he would have to get used to the fact that he had probably grown up quite a bit while he was away.

"Right now we're just going on a B-rank mission. Now walk," he pointed down the tunnel to make himself crystal clear. Naruto just stared for a moment, his expression was conflicted and Kakashi didn't know what to think, but soon the expression turned to defeat and the teen turned and continued his march out of the village. Kakashi turned as well, this time walking beside Naruto instead of ahead. The silence made the air seem heavy around him, he thought of saying something but he didn't want to tip the scales and alter Naruto's mood. A sulking compliant Naruto was better then a loud aggressive one in this situation.

"I'm not stupid." Naruto's voice barely came out as more then a whisper so Kakashi set his exposed eye on him so he would know that he had heard. "You're sneaking me out of the village…just admit it to me."

"Yes," the word just flew out of Kakashi's mouth. He had planned on being out of the Fire Country before broaching this subject but he now realized that he couldn't fool the 16 year old Naruto like he had the 12 year old one.

"Why," the boy growled, stopping his even pace. "I just came back, why am I being taken away again?" This feeling was not the boisterous anger that Naruto was famous for. This was Naruto's genuine anger, and it was quiet and collected. Kakashi was one of the few people that knew of Naruto's quieter side, the true self that comes out when all other defenses are stripped away.

"You are safer away from the village then you are in it….We can talk about it but only if you keep walking."

No verbal response ever came, in fact Naruto didn't say anything for the rest of the day as Kakashi told him many things that he never wanted to hear.

"Now, to answer your question earlier," Kakashi started. "My leg is injured because a Hyuuga Jounin closed off a chakra pore and it makes it difficult to walk. You see Naruto, last night you were locked in that hospital room so you don't know that………..

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Sakura rubbed her eyes as she made her way back to the hospital. She had barely been able to get 4 hours of sleep the night before. The images of the Hyuuga girl that she'd treated the night before just wouldn't leave her. Then she'd had to help examine the boy who had died. Her mind must have been too exhausted to produce a nightmare because she hadn't had one. Or perhaps her mind couldn't think of anything crazier then what she'd already gone through that night.

It was really disappointing that her reunion with Naruto had been interrupted like that. She'd never admit it to anyone, especially not him, but she'd been looking forward to his return since the moment he left. It was awkward, especially since she knew he had a crush on her but she felt a sisterly affection towards him. She never realized how strong it was until she had to spend years away from him.

She supposed that she would just have to catch up with him later, after this whole mess with the Hyuuga and whatever it was that attacked them was cleared up.

"Sakura," came a loud voice from out of the blue. She groaned as she heard the advancing footsteps running toward her from behind.

"Ino-pig I really don't have time right now. I have to…"

"Is it true," the blond interrupted.

Sakura was taken aback by the intense curiosity in her friend's eyes. "Is what true," she finally asked back not having any idea what the question was pertaining to.

"Oh come on forehead-girl. You have to know what I'm talking about."

Sakura crossed her arms. She really didn't have time for this, and she wasn't getting in trouble either. "Look I can't talk about the Hyuuga so ask somebody else about…."

"NOT THAT," the other girl yelled in irritation. "Everybody knows about the Hyuuga getting locked up. I mean is it true what they're saying about Naruto?"

"Naruto!" Sakura was surprised at first but then brightened. "Oh, yeah he came back yesterday. I didn't get to see him for very long since…" Sakura stopped when she saw that Ino was looking at her as if she had a kunai sticking out of her eye. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Sakura….turn around, what do you see."

It seemed like an odd request but Sakura complied. Her eyes widened as realization washed over what she was seeing. "That's…that's were Naruto lives…"

"There are people out to kill Naruto…people in this village Sakura."

Sakura grabbed her friend by the arm shaking her. "But in god's name why?"

"People are saying crazy things about him," she paused. "My uncle told me that there was some law passed by the 3rd Hokage, that all the adults had to keep the truth about Naruto a secret from the children."

"What secret is that," she asked hesitantly.

"That….that Naruto is a demon."

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Kakashi watched Naruto as he just stared back at the village, red and orange flickering across his blue eyes as the blaze in the distance continued. The teenager refused to stop staring at the burning building that had until a few hours ago held the meager apartment that he'd called a home. Save for what little he had in his pockets the boy had lost everything.

"Hate and fear only breed more hate and fear," Kakashi thought aloud. "Kyuubi came and the people feared him, then when he was gone they hated him." Naruto remained still, Kakashi wondered if words would really reach him right now. "When the people learned that Kyuubi was still alive inside of you they were afraid, but the Hokage wouldn't let them hurt you so they could only hate you instead."

Naruto made a move with his hand, touching the Hokage necklace as if to assure himself that he hadn't lost that as well. "16 years pass, two children are hurt and one actually dies. There is no explanation and everyone is very afraid." Kakashi makes his way over to Naruto and puts his hand on his shoulder. "On this very same day the boy that they hate comes back to his village, so they blame him."

Kakashi knew what was haunting him, not the loss of a few meager possessions, but the loss of precious people. Right now his deepest secret was being spread throughout the village in a vengeful voice. Naruto's friends were going to hear it and he wouldn't be there to explain himself, to justify himself. He risked death to walk back into that village now, and though Naruto may not fear death he wasn't ready to face his friends. Not if they feared him now that they knew the truth.

"Don't be angry at Tsunade-sama for not stopping it in time Naruto. These people that hated you used the Hyuuga's tragedy to break the 3rd's law while the Hokage and ANBU were too consumed to do anything about it." He pulled at the shoulder gently, trying to urge Naruto to turn away. "By the time anyone realized it was happening it was already too late."

"But for right now this village is too dangerous for you, so let's leave." With one final glance toward what had once been home, the two nins walked away from Konoha.

In the streets the children only stared in bewilderment at the burning shine of hate that their parents had made for Kyuubi.

To be continued:

Well there's chapter 2. I can't believe that I actually got two chapters out that close together. I must be on a writer's high right now. Well anyway please leave a review and let me know what you think of this so far. Thanks to the people who have read this story so far.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Its been a few months but I've decided to pick this story back up. Sorry for the wait but life happened to Daughter of Ashes. As always I would appreciate feedback from anyone who reads this. I hope you enjoy.

Note 2: Also if you have read this story before I'd like to point out that chapter 1 has been completely rewritten. So if you read it when that chapter was first released there is now more detail so defiantly check it out.

Phantoms

Chapter 3

Hyuuga Neji fiddled with his forehead protector once again. Ever since he'd accepted it he walked around with the permanent presumption that it lay crooked over his brows.

"Hey careful there Neji," Kiba chided, "you almost knocked a hair out of place that time."

Neji jerked his hand away, which only seemed to amuse the dog user more. Kiba laughed loudly and Neji's teammates did a poor job of muffling their own laughter. He sighed in defeat.

He glanced over at his cousin who seemed oblivious to the noisiness going on around her. The obnoxious red forehead protector looked even more out of place on her head then his, but it couldn't be helped. They had to wear the red forehead protectors or they would not be allowed to work, wearing it was the sign that you were a Hyuuga loyal to the village, not a missing nin.

In the end Neji was glad that he had been out on a mission when the whole ordeal had happened. Much of his old hatred for the main family had dissipated but certainly some old feelings would have come boiling back to the surface if he had been there to see his family attacking each other over Hatori's death.

His arrest as he walked back through the gates did not amuse him either. For his 'protection' he was escorted to a cell upon his homecoming. He had stayed there with other branch members for the better part of a week before the Hokage passed her mandate. Those who she and the ANBU deemed loyal would be allowed to reassume ninja work as long as they wore a special forehead protector as a sign that they had been endorsed by her. Hinata and himself were among the few that she chose.

Their teammates were very supportive even though they were losing a lot of money as nobody seemed interested in hiring them for anything higher then a C or D ranked mission. The Hokage had lumped the two teams together in hopes that one team with two Hyuuga had a better chance of getting work, surprisingly it worked.

"Neji," Lee suddenly burst out. "The mission today was too simple…"

"I'm not interested in training today Lee," Neji interrupted before the other boy could start suggesting any of his torturous exercises, "perhaps when things are no longer complicated…at home." As he said this, the group came to the point where the two Hyuuga would turn to the left toward the Hyuuga complex.

After making plans to meet early the next morning the two broke off toward their home. "I wonder what we'll have for dinner," Hinata barely mumbled.

"Nothing special I'm sure," he replied back numbly. He waited for her to say something else but her eyes stayed down and her mouth closed. They walked the remainder of the way in silence.

-------------------------------------------

"So we have found similarities in at least 116 instances…..points where chakra resonate carry the most damage….bloodline limits seem more at risk. " Sakura skimmed the report in front of her aloud. "

"Isn't that basically what you said in your last report?"

"Shut up Ino," the overtired girl snapped.

"Excuse me for pointing out the obvious," the blond retorted. "Would you rather have heard that from me or the Hokage?"

"It doesn't really matter," Sakura sighed. "I don't think Tsunade-sama understands what happened to these people any more then I do."

"Speaking of which," Ino suddenly turned squeamish. "Are you done with that corpse now, can you cover it up please?"

Sakura looked to the body lying out on the examination table. "You know it's more respectable to call them 'the deceased', not a corpse."

"I think that it's a normal human reaction to feel uncomfortable when there is a dead body in the room." She paused looking once again at the body, but a little bit closer this time. "Say, Sakura?"

"What?"

"Is she one of the old ones?" She saw Sakura's reaction and rethought her words. "I mean is she an old case?"

"Yeah," Sakura looked at the body's accompanying chart. "According to this she's been dead for nearly twenty years."

"Geeze," Ino mumbled looking away. She started wondering if she should form an opinion about the ethics of preservation techniques on dead bodies. "Do you really think that all these cases are related?"

"Tsunade-sama seems to think so." Sakura pondered her friend's question for a moment. At first glance all the different cases they were examining would seem independent of each other. The symptoms ranged from fatigue, tremors, organ failure, to the unexplainable wounds that had killed a Hyuuga child a few weeks ago. The only commonality they could find was the testimony of those who managed to survive. They all described it in various ways but it boiled down to something getting inside their bodies and hurting them.

The frightening thing was that the same phenomenon had happened during the last war. If the past was any indication there would be more deaths soon if they didn't discover the cause and stop it. At that time the Third Hokage had come to believe that Orochimaru was behind the deaths. The cases became fewer and far between after he dissented, and there were many, many bodies with these scars in the laboratory where he had experimented on villagers.

Sakura and other medic nins were desperately trying to discover what was physically happening but they were failing miserably. That's why the Hokage had called for Ino's family to become involved. Their skill for manipulating and even reading the minds of other people was essential to getting testimony from the survivors. Most people were too confused or traumatized to accurately describe it.

"You know you're killing yourself over this Sakura," Ino walked over to the body and pulled the sheet back over the woman's face herself. "So have you heard any news?"

"I just finished telling you that we haven't discovered anything."

Ino just stared at her friend patiently. "Sakura, you know what news I'm referring to."

"No," Sakura whispered. "I haven't heard anything from Naruto." She became emotional and let a few angry tears stream down her cheeks. "Tsunade-sama refuses to talk about him to me…Shizune won't say anything either….he's just…just."

"He's gone Sakura," Ino pitied her friend but she had to say her piece. "I think its better that he is gone."

"What did you just say," Sakura snapped, her voice almost feral.

Ino waved her hands up in gentle defense. "Don't get angry with me, you know what I meant." Sakura had known what the girl was implying but had let her protective nature overtake her reason. "All I'm saying is he probably has a better chance at a normal life somewhere else….or at least as normal as life can get when you're possessed by a demon I guess."

"He's not POSSESSED," Sakura hissed. "It's a seal, that's it."

"Sorry," Ino covered her eyes. She really hadn't meant to say it like that but it was hard when she heard it all the time from other people. "Look Sakura," she walked back to her friend and put her hand on her shoulder. "I'm not afraid of Naruto, and I don't think he's a monster that's going to eat me or my yet to be born children." She paused, feeling a bit ashamed of what she was about to say. "I have to admit that I am a bit afraid of what he is….what could happen if he lost control."

"I can't think of him like that," Sakura whispered.

"You shouldn't, he's your teammate." Ino smiled a bit as a sudden thought came to mind. "You know, when the teams were announced four years ago and I ended up with Shikamaru and Chouji I thought I'd been condemned to hell. Now I think life would be hell without them."

Sakura looked Ino in the eye and couldn't help but brighten up a bit. Just that fact that the other girl understood the bond she felt to her teammate made her feel at ease. Even though she had been separated from her Genin cell for a long time she still felt that strong connection and the need to reunite team 7 still burned in her.

"Speaking of those two idiots," Ino suddenly huffed, "I've got to meet them for dinner."

"See you later Ino," Sakura waved her off as she left.

"Remember to sleep tonight," Ino called out over her shoulder as she twisted her way out the small door. She sighed in weariness as she made her way down the hall. Sakura was obsessed with this research and it was starting to be cause for major worry. At first Sakura had wanted to prove that Naruto had nothing to do with the attack on the Hyuuga, but as things calmed down people seemed to doubt that he had been involved. The general consensus of people was that if he could have attacked two children he would have attacked them all. Not that it mattered at all, Naruto's secret was out and he'd been run out of town. The Hokage refused to tell Sakura anything about Naruto's state except that he was with their old teacher and thus safe. Now Sakura plunged herself in this gut wrenching research to distract herself from the fact that of the three, she was left behind once again.

As Ino thought about Sakura, Naruto, and many other disturbing trends going on in her life, she failed to notice the Hokage leaning against the wall by the door she'd just left. Tsunade had heard most of the exchange, she decided to let her younger apprentice compose herself before she went inside to talk to her.

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Neji found himself escorting Hinata to and from the Hospital once again. It was alright since he wanted to visit some of his cousins from the branch house but he still found it odd that she would never leave with her father and the other head family members. Odder still was Hiashi's attitude toward his oldest daughter, he seemed to have turned from predatory to apologetic. When she had returned home with her red forehead protector he praised her for being selected by the Hokage. He seemed concerned over the slightest injury she received, and even suggested that she should take more time to rest.

At first Neji assumed that Hiashi must have had a change of heart after almost losing Hanabi but by keeping company with his cousin he could fell something else played into it all. Hinata never appreciated the changes in her father. In fact she almost seemed to shudder if he came too close. He felt he had no place asking her to explain what was happening between them but he could see that she seemed more at ease if he was around so he made it a point to keep himself between the two.

This was the case right now as the three of them were standing in the Head family's private room. Nobody said a word, Hinata just sat next to Hanabi's bed and held her one undamaged hand. Hiashi sat on the other side of the girl's bed and took turns looking from his daughters to the other two unfortunates that kept a bed in this room. Neji just stood, waiting for Hinata to ask him to walk her home.

Hanabi was another subject he did not dare broach with his cousin. He had been told that she had witnessed it but she never offered any information to anyone unless she was ordered to speak about it, usually by the Hokage in the privacy of her office. He could only imagine how horrific it must have been to see it happen just from the few injuries he could see on the girl's small body.

"Neji, lets go home," Hinata finally asked to Neji's relief.

Neji bowed in farewell to his uncle as he left the room but Hinata did not, yet another strange behavior. She always seemed to walk extra fast as she left the hospital he ran to catch up to her in the hall. He caught a glimpse of Haruno Sakura staring at them from the nurse's station where she was handling papers. He was sure that girl had questions for Hinata, considering the company she had been keeping hours before the villagers had burned Naruto's home.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Honest to god Chouji at least eat a vegetable every now and then is all I'm asking," Ino wagged her finger in his face. Shikamaru tried to tune his teammates out, this fight over eating habits would go on for another five minutes or so and then it would be dropped again until the next time they ate together. Chouji was the one who suggested they invite Ino out for dinner, since she had been working hard on a project for the Hokage lately and couldn't see them often.

They could tell she was really stressed from whatever the Hokage had asked her to do. She'd been given a break from the project to go on a three day mission with them a couple weeks ago. At one point they were resting and she excused herself, when she didn't come back after an hour Shikamaru went to look for and found her sitting on a rock crying.

Knowing there was no way she hadn't felt his presence he walked up to her and promised he wouldn't say anything. She didn't stop crying but she laughed when he said that. Shikamaru was sure he'd never understand how her mind worked.

"When are you going to be done with the Hokage's project Ino," Chouji whined. "Missions are boring with only Shikamaru around."

"Hey," Shikamaru came back to the conversation. "Who ever said you were good company?"

"Now boys don't argue," Ino smirked. "You're both equally irritating." She turned around and stuck her tongue out at them playfully and turned to run off. This was the boy's cue to catch her, it was a bit immature for three chuunin to play chase the girl, but responsibility was not what Asuma's team was known for. Shikamaru, true to form could not be bothered to run. Instead he made his shadow chase her, a difficult task since the only light came from the nearly deserted street's high lamps.

Ino jumped to her left to avoid the light, that's when Chouji did his part and sent a massive arm her way. "You take that back Ino."

"Make me," she taunted him again. He sent his other arm flying but this time she got him back by casting a slight mind control technique on him, just powerful enough to throw his aim off. She probably would have taunted him again if she hadn't heard a small yelp behind her.

"Ah shit," Shikamaru yelled running up to them now. "Hinata, are you okay?"

Slowly Ino turned to see Hyuuga Hinata ducking underneath Chouji's enlarged arm. A few feet away Hyuuga Neji was standing, not looking the slightest bit amused. "Oops," she groaned while dispelling the mind control.

Chouji quickly made his arms shrink back to their normal size and ran up to the two cousins. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," he bowed for emphasis.

"What were you thinking using a technique like that in the middle of a street?" Neji stalked up to the other boy which made Chouji wince.

Shikamaru got in the middle to end this before they attracted any more attention. "Hey calm down, it was just some fooling around that got out of hand."

That only seemed to make Neji more frustrated. "She could have just as easily have been a normal person and then what you have done?"

"Neji, please stop it," Hinata pulled at his arm. "Nobody was hurt so we should just forget about it."

He pulled his arm away. "They are lucky that nobody was hurt."

"OKAY," Ino shouted over all of them. "It was stupid, we're sorry about it, and now it's over, so can we please just drop it?"

Neji scowled but caved in. "I suppose if Hinata-sama is not upset I shouldn't be."

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, glad that nothing more was going to happen, she really just wanted to go home and sleep.

"I'm really sorry Hinata," Chouji apologized again.

"It's alright Chouji-kun," she tried to smile to reassure him but an unsettling feeling was falling over her that she couldn't suppress, something felt very wrong. She watched as Chouji began itching his forearms, oddly fascinated. Ino saw the other girl staring and decided she didn't like it.

"Say, don't we have a mission with you guys later this week," She blurted out getting the attention of both Hyuuga.

"We do," Shikamaru interrupted. "The Hokage is holding you hostage if you've forgotten."

Ino shot the boy a dirty look. "I just thought since we were all here anyway we could plan a time and place to…" Ino lost her train of thought when she saw Hinata begin to hold her hands over her mouth and look about frantically. "Hinata, are you going to be sick."

Neji took note of his cousin's sudden panic, "Hinata-sama do you want me to take you back to the hospital."

"It smells like blood," she whispered, so low that the group thought they had imagined her words.

"What did you say," Ino asked cautiously.

"IT SMELLS LIKE BLOOD," her Byakugan eyes burned to life as she screamed.

Instinctually chakra rushed to Neji's own eyes as he grabbed the hysterical girl's arms to still her. "Hinata-sama calm down." Shikamaru made a move to help him, grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her back against the wall.

"Let me go, let me go," she pleaded. "Its going to happen again…I have to see Hanabi!" She tried to beat their hands away but the two boys held their ground. Ino just stood back and watched. She thought of going inside the girl's mind to find out what it was that had suddenly disturbed her so much. She kept yelling about her sister over and over again despite Neji's assurances that she was just fine. Suddenly Hinata froze, as if she had been stuck in the face. "It's happening again," she moaned.

As if led by a higher power the two boys followed her gaze and looked at something behind Ino. She became afraid to turn around and look herself as she saw a look of horror spreading across Shikamaru's face. "Chouji," her teammate rasped and then screamed, "CHOUJI!"

Ino twisted her head to see what Shikamaru saw. Chouji's head was bowed so at first she did not understand what she was seeing but a horrible feeling was twisting at her heart, slowly her other senses started to piece together what was happening. First she too began to smell blood in the air, her ears detected a slight splattering noise, that noise finally let her eyes to Chouji's feet where she could see blood gathering in small droplets. "Oh my god," Ino gasped.

"IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN," Hinata screamed out.

Shakily, Shikamaru touched his best friend. "Chouji, what happened?"

Chouji raised his head and Shikamaru stepped back in shock at the sight of him. Blood was running from his whole face. The eyes, ears, nose, and mouth all seemed to be leaking the substance of his life. Seeing his friend Chouji raised his hand out to Shikamaru. Suddenly the arm bulged with a rush of chakra and the two teammates screamed as they watched as their friend's arm torn to pieces in every direction.

The pain made Chouji lose control and his body began to grow and shrink wildly. He screamed and punched and kicked at air, begging for it to stop. Shikamaru tried to grab him and force him to calm down but he was swatted away and flew into a wall. Ino watched Shikamaru fall to the ground in an unmoving lump. Quickly she formed seals with her hands, she had to get into his mind and stop him. The familiar blackness passed by her as she made the short journey from her body to his.

Once inside she reached her arms out, willing them to become his. A few moments passes and Ino remained unbound to his body. It was eerie, normally the inside of a mind was like a hurricane of sound and thought, and here everything had gone still. "Chouji," she called out mentally.

A presence brushed her psychic skin, instinctively she knew that like her other presence did not belong, it was another invader. She focused on the thing as it moved, trying to read its mind but there were no thoughts.

Her arms began to feel heavy and she realized her technique was finally taking hold and Chouji's body was connecting to her mind. Next she should have been able to force her will upon his mind but once again she could do nothing. For the first time since she fought Sakura in the Chuunin exams Ino felt the force of the mind she was inside. This time her connection with the mind did not only flow one way, bit by bit Chouji's pain became hers.

Bugs began to crawl up and down her arms, she could feel them biting her as they made their way to her face. The bugs became hands that held her still as they made their way inside of her through her mouth and the holes they burrowed into her skin, they wanted something inside. The hands became numerous, more and more of them began grabbing and clawing at her. The hands became greedy and tore her flesh away. She felt herself become less and less and a moment of clarity came through the pain. That thoughtless presence, it was feeding.

Eternity seemed to pass before the pain suddenly and mercifully ended. She could feel her body being supported by one strong arm under her back, a hand loomed not far from her face, she pieced together that these belonged to the same person. As his features became clear and she saw the white eyes of the Byakugan she almost said Neji's name but then she heard the voice of a man too mature to be him. He was shouting at everyone, something about a hospital but Ino could not focus on his words.

Forgotten in the mist of the panic Hinata hid in a corner trembling. "Please, no more, no more."

-----------------------------------------------

"Naruto!"

A Chidori grazed Naruto's shoulder as he failed to block. Kakashi dispelled enough power in time to avoid inflicting any serious pain. "Ow,' he mumbled somberly and let himself fall onto his backside.

"Either concentrate or we're not going to do this," the Jounin stared down at him.

"Then let's no do it," Naruto said softly as he rubbed the sore spot.

Kakashi turned concerned for a moment. "What's the matter all the sudden?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know just a feeling I guess."

"A feeling," Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

Naruto looked at the ground. "Yeah, just a really horrible feeling."

The teacher waited to give his student a chance to elaborate but it seemed he had no desire to. "Well then let's go in for the day." He grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and hoisted him up. "Rin must be done cooking by now anyway."

To be continued:

Hey everyone thanks for reading. This chapter was hard but I like it so far. If you have any thoughts please let me know.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Naruto.

Author's note: It took awhile to get this chapter written I know (sorry people). Read the chapter first and I'll talk about why a little more in my ending note. I hope you like how the chapter turned out.

Phantoms chapter 4

Tsunade sat at her desk staring out the window. Her village was slowly building into a state of panic and despite all her efforts she could not calm the people and give them the assurances they needed.

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune whispered bringing the Hokage's concentration back to the present. "The final report is back from Iwana-san."

Tsunade breathed deep as she pulled the autopsy report from her apprentice's hands. She skimmed the contents briefly to get a general idea of what the man found, as she expected nothing seemed too helpful. "Let's see," began reading aloud. "Extensive damage to….well every single limb and evidence of a chakra surge shortly before death." She dropped the folder to her desk so her hands were free to rub the irritation affecting her temples.

"This isn't good Tsunade-sama," Shizune said in a defeated tone. "This is the tenth death and people are demanding answers."

"I demand answers," the older woman snapped.

Shizune chose not to acknowledge her teacher's raw emotion, besides she was sure it was coming out because she was the only other person in the room. "Has your correspondence with the sand been useful?"

"Hmm," Tsunade mused to herself. "Chiyo-Baasama has had some interesting suggestions for me."

"Suggestions," Shizune was confused.

"Yes," Tsunade frowned at the memory of the scrolls the ancient ninja woman had sent her. "She suggested treatments but didn't include any reason as to why we should be doing them."

The younger medic nin looked at her teacher oddly. "The documents that the third left behind indicated that she understood how to heal the injuries." Her eyes turned dark as she thought of the reasons why this old woman might be withholding information. "I know she doesn't like you very much Tsunade-sama but…" she couldn't even think of an ending to the sentence.

"Actually she told me that we'd talk about it in person," she said calmly as she took a sip from a sake cup.

Shizune's eyebrows twitched seeing the alcohol but she was more interested in the conversation. "What did she mean by that?"

Tsunade smiled in content as the liquid sent hot sensations traveling throughout her body. "I wondered myself until I got a message from the Kazekage today."

"Gaara," Shizune asked."

"Yes," Tsunade seemed amused as she remembered the message. "It was lengthy but it basically said that he wished to make a goodwill visit to an ally since he was recently appointed." She calmly took another sip. "Her name was among his escorts."

"This is interesting," the younger woman mused. "When will they be coming?"

"Not for another month," Tsunade snapped again in obvious irritation. "Until then I suppose I have to keep sending her scrolls."

"Couldn't you persuade Gaara to send her right away?"

"I doubt it," she rubbed her temples again. "I have a feeling that Gaara is coming for a reason."

"Why do you believe that?"

Tsunade looked thoughtful for a moment before she answered. "This conversation is over."

Shizune was taken aback by that last comment but knew better then to ever argue with a statement like that. "Well then Tsunade-sama about the autopsy report then."

"Hmm," Tsunade groaned as she picked the folder back up and started looking it over again. It really didn't have a lot to tell. What they had found around the body had actually been more interesting.

"You need to sign it so we can inform the family of what we will be doing with the body.

The Hokage sighed, she hated that part. "Send a chuunin messenger to them, we have to keep the body for the time being." She picked up a pen and flipped to the end of the report, she spoke aloud as she wrote. "Aburame Shino, cause of death unknown."

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Shikamaru looked out of the corner of his eye to make sure that his father was still talking to Ino's parents. He'd come for his daily treatment and his father had come along to escape his mother. He plopped down in the chair next to the hospital bed. "It's really troublesome to have a back injury Ino." He sat with his back to the unconscious girl and continued talking to her as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "I have to come here every single day to make sure I'm not going to be paralyzed and the Hokage still gives me work." He groaned as he thought of more things to complain to her about. "Did I tell you that she's got me in archives now, nothing but old unorganized books and scrolls all day long?"

He breathed out slowly as he decided to stop. He tilted his head so he could look at his teammate without having to twist his back that had nearly been snapped in half when Chouji had thrown him. He really didn't have a clear memory of the whole incident, and he was actually grateful for that. The memory of his best friend dying a bloody and painful death was not something he wanted.

What little he did know was what he had gotten out of Hyuuga Neji afterwards. According to him Ino had used one of her mind techniques on Chouji, apparently to try to get control of his body and stop him. Something had gone wrong and her physical body began screaming and failing about. The incredible commotion attracted a group of Hyuuga who somehow managed to stop Chouji's wild chakra bursts. Hiashi himself had been the one who stopped Ino, but whether she was really saved or not depended on who you asked. He'd cut off her chakra to her brain to force the technique to dispel, this was dangerous of course but he knew it really was the only option they had at the time. If she had been inside his mind when he had died her life would have ended as well.

"There's nothing wrong with you Ino," he tried to sound like his normal smart ass self but his depression was evident even to his own ears. "The doctors have checked you a million times and you're completely healthy except for the fact that you won't wake up." He stared at her for another minute or so, he had never thought that he would actually wish for her to sit up and scold him but he wanted to hear that now more then anything else.

He threw his head back and began to stare at the ceiling while he waited for his father to come back and announce they were going home. He tried to think of nothing for awhile but his mind betrayed him as his last memory of that night began playing out in his head, Hyuuga Hinata screaming.

-----------------------------------

"I think we should grab him Itachi."

"Why Kisame," the Uchiha replied coolly. "I don't see a point."

The man with the shark face smiled. He was fascinated by his partner at times. "He is your brother after all."

"Hmm," Itachi murmured as his keen eyes remained focused on his younger sibling in the distance. "He's always screaming about revenge, it would get annoying quickly."

Kisame chuckled to that. Akatsuki had sent the two of them to Konoha to investigate the bizarre deaths. Even Itachi seemed surprised to see his younger brother lurking around. He too turned his attentions back to the young sharingan user. He and another sound-nin were carrying a bloody heap between them. "Seems Orochimaru is keeping his people busy around Konoha lately?"

"Obviously," Itachi scratched his itchy finger that held his third eye. "I wonder when the ANBU will notice they have more bloodstains then bodies?"

"I wonder if this really is what's affecting the damn relic," Kisame hissed.

Itachi murmured to himself. His partner was referring to the 'Heaven Alter'. He thought it was an ironic name for a stone carving that was only good for extracting a demon from a person's being. "Most of Akatsuki agree that there is not enough balance to capture any more demons." He sighed as he activated his weakest form of sharingan. "We should have known if we wanted to find the imbalance we should have been looking for snakes," Itachi smiled when he knew for sure that Sasuke didn't acknowledge his presence at all.

"Be honest Itachi," Kisame chided. "Doesn't the prospect of Orochimaru having your bloodline limit worry you at all?"

"I won't let him have it Kisame." Itachi leaned forward as Sasuke suddenly fell to his knees grabbing at his chest in pain. "Sasuke is my only little brother after all."

--------------------------------------

"I resent this, its genin work!"

Sakura hissed, she was so sick of him going on and on like this. "Kiba I really wonder if you could complain about the mission one more time. I'm sure you could if you tried."

"Kiba, Sakura, both of you stop bickering right now."

Kiba growled like a dog which oddly enough made Sakura start to laugh but she was able to stop herself in time. "Sorry Iruka-sensei," she replied.

Still growling Kiba trudged forward after their old academy teacher. It really was a simple mission she had to admit but he really didn't have to complain every five minutes. She had to keep reminding herself of what he was going through, his teammate had just died after all. That would bother anybody, but what made it worse was that nobody understood why he was dead. Then as if to make Kiba's life more difficult the Hokage ordered him to go on this medical supply pickup mission but forbid him from bringing Akamaru.

Kiba complained adamantly but Tsunade didn't budge on the matter. The reason really should have been obvious as far as Sakura saw it. Akamaru was a mammoth of a dog that anybody was going recognize and they were trying to be invisible. The main reason they were on this mission instead of genin was that Tsunade decided all three of them needed to be away from the village, especially Hinata. After Shino died Hinata fell into a deep depression, serious enough that the Hokage decided the girl was not to be left alone, too much had happened to that girl in such a short period of time. Sakura didn't know how the girl managed to deal with it.

"How much further is this place," Kiba whined.

"We're almost there," Iruka sounded almost tense making Sakura wonder why. "Promise me that you're going to behave when we get there. This is one of Tsunade-sama's most important suppliers."

"Can we get something to eat in the village first," Hinata's voice came out barely above a whisper.

Sakura looked over at the other girl, she seemed so small and frail to her. "Yeah let's get something quick. It will be a long time before we come back to the inn anyway."

"Well…," Iruka seemed to think getting a snack was a big decision, Kiba got irritated again.

"Oh come on let's just get something, I'm kind of hungry too." He walked over to his teammate and began leading her by the elbow. "You like chicken right, I'll buy you some."

Iruka sighed and started to follow the two teens into the village. Sakura giggled a little bit as she trailed behind. Kiba might have annoyed her but she was sure that he was very much like Naruto deep down, he'd do anything to cheer Hinata up. His antics usually worked, she'd brighten up a bit when he'd pay attention to her. As she watched him searching the food stalls for the right choice Sakura was reminded of old missions when Naruto would ask her to come find a good place to eat ramen. She'd only go if Sasuke went as well but she always enjoyed herself once she went.

Sakura suddenly detected that salty scent in the air and began looking about for the stall.

"Okay so my friend here wants one kabob with chicken and I want two with beef," Kiba paused. "Sakura what do you want, I'll treat you too." After a few moments had passed without an answer the threesome at the stand turned and began to look around for their comrade.

"Sakura," Iruka called out louder beginning to retrace their steps.

"Hey we'll be back in a minute," Kiba assured the man who was already beginning to cook his food. "Hey Sakura where'd you go," he called out with Hinata looking about at his side.

"There she is," the girl said pointing out the silhouette of Sakura as she stepped out of a wide alleyway into the next street.

Kiba was about to yell at her but was stopped when he saw her face hit the light. Sakura's expression was unreadable. Her hands flew to her face and she called out to whoever it was she saw and bolted forward. Now acting on instinct Kiba charged forward pulling a kunai from his pouch to back up the pink haired girl if she needed it, the soft but familiar sounds behind him indicated Hinata was also moving.

He rounded the corner with the knife held in front of this face in case there was anything he needed to protect himself from, however the sight he was greeted with melted his fighting sense instantly. Sakura had not been reacting to an attack she had attacked someone else by the looks of it. Her target was pinned against the wall in obvious shock. He didn't move or say anything as Sakura kept her death grip on the fabric of his jacket sleeves.

Kiba walked up to them, he had to ask just to be sure. "Naruto?"

The blonde's head snapped to attention at the sound of his name. Kiba saw the recognition form across his face but the normal giddy look that he was used to from Naruto didn't follow. In fact he almost looked scared of him.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata chimed in a voice a bit louder then Kiba had heard lately.

The sight of Hinata seemed to reawaken Naruto's awareness of his body. He jerked out of Sakura's grip and backpedaled down the street which thankfully was fairly vacant. "What do you want," he asked in a panicky voice.

The wheels continued to turn in Kiba's head as he watched the other boy. Naruto had gone into hiding because the people in the village had been out for his blood, hell they'd burned his home to the ground. He was probably paranoid about the intentions of anybody from Konoha that showed up unannounced.

The girls weren't helping, they both just seemed upset to see the reaction he was having to them. Sakura kept advancing trying to grab his arm again. Hinata's eyes were starting to brim with tears as she watched this exchange, he had to stop this.

"Sakura knock it off," Kiba spat as he grabbed the girl forcefully by the arm and pulled her back. "You're giving him a damn heart attack."

Normally Sakura would have knocked someone to oblivion for that but some inner instinct told her not to give in to the impulse. She heard a couple of deep breaths and looked back to Naruto to see he was the one taking them. Kiba's actions seemed to work wonders, she could practically see the tension that had engulfed him a moment ago slipping out of his body.

"We're just on a mission Naruto," Kiba announced. This actually seemed to drain the last of Naruto's paranoia away, his arms fell relaxed to his sides. "Sorry if we freaked you out just showing up out of the blue."

"No, its okay," Naruto apologized back.

Kiba noticed that he still wasn't looking them quite in the eye. "Naruto, you okay?"

"I'm," Naruto raked his fingers through his hair. "I'm…not really sure what I should say to you guys."

Sakura found herself wanting to lecture him and cry for him at the same time, but she knew he would not want either.

"Well it's good to see you're okay," Kiba said as he walked over. "After that whole mess I wondered how you were doing."

"Thanks," he replied simply.

Sakura searched her mind for the right thing to say but an old familiar voice cut her to the chase.

"Hey Iruka, they're all together," Kakashi called behind him as he approached the teens from behind. "Well Naruto I see you're having a reunion over here."

"Nah, we were just saving him from Sakura." The Jounin turned his head to Kiba's comment. The younger nin smirked. "He would have suffocated from that death grip of a hug she gave him if we hadn't intervened."

"Kiba," Sakura took swing at him, missing. "It wasn't like that."

"Wasn't it now," Kakashi mocked.

"Sensei," Sakura whined not even realizing that she'd somehow fallen back into her twelve year old self.

Iruka walked up chuckling a bit at the scene before him. "Kakashi-san we should hurry if we're going to get any shopping done."

"Shopping," Naruto questioned.

"Rin doesn't have nearly enough food for all of us," Kakashi answered.

"Right," Iruka turned. "Let's go so we're not arriving too late."

The group started following him until Kakashi broke in. "Wait, the four of us should be enough," he said indicated to Kiba, Hinata, Iruka, and himself." He turned to his two students. "Naruto, you take Sakura to Rin's house and the two of you can get the extra beds ready." Kakashi strolled over to Sakura while still staring Naruto down. "And you dropped Rin's supplies everywhere, pick them up."

"Shit," Naruto grumbled as he bent over to retrieve the scattered items that had fallen when Sakura had surprised him.

While Naruto was occupied Kakashi bent down and whispered into Sakura's ear. "This is your second chance to save a teammate from themselves, use it wisely, it's about a half hour walk to Rin's house." Sakura nodded as he nudged her forward. "Let's go," he chirped as he indicated a direction to the others. Sakura walked over to Naruto slowly, listening to the distance that was growing between them and the rest of the group. Kiba suddenly remembered his food and started sprinting away. When she could no longer hear their voices she knew for sure that it was just the two of them.

"Okay," Naruto said to himself as he examined the contents of his bag before declaring the search finished. Sakura chose that moment to take him in. He still looked like Naruto but his height and lack of baby fat where still something to get used to. His eyes, though still blue no longer seemed bright, and the voice didn't belong either, it was low and lacked the power that used to turn everyone's head. Overall his presence was what struck her. That sense of determination and optimism was gone and she was looking at little more then the shell of what had been her friend. "Let's go," he finally said.

"Alright," she replied as she ran to catch up to where he was. He stole a glance at her when she got into stride with him but didn't say anything else. They stayed in silence like that for a few minutes. By the time they were out of the town Sakura was beginning to feel uneasy, there just wasn't supposed to be silence when Naruto was around, apparently he felt the same way.

"You're quiet Sakura."

She felt a little twinge of pain that he hadn't said chan, she was sure that was indicative of something. "You're even quieter," she decided to counter him.

"Now you sound like Kakashi-sensei," he sounded a little dejected. Despite how the conversation was starting she was glad to see that he seemed willing to talk to her.

He was looking down, Sakura tried to imagine what was going through his mind right now. Being exposed had changed him, she could see that. "Naruto," she reached out and touched his arm, he flinched but didn't pull away. "Are you okay?"

There was a rattling of metal objects in Naruto's bag as he stopped. "People won't stop asking me that."

"Naruto," Sakura tried to put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him but she jerked back when she met his eyes.

"What should I say Sakura," he questioned softly, "What'll make you happy?"

To be continued:

Author's note 2: As I was saying at the beginning it took me awhile to get this chapter done. It wasn't all laziness. I tried writing this thing a couple of times but I felt like I was writing chapter 2 and 3 all over again and became frustrated. That's why some events like Shino's death don't necessarily have a scene, I wanted to get the plot moving again. I guess I'm hoping that the readers will give me some feedback about that. I'm very much a revision writer so I go back and add things in all the time. Please let me know what you think of this chapter but if there's anything that I didn't include that you think might have enhanced the story let me know. Writing fanfiction is fun because you really get to know what the people think of it chapter by chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Naruto!

Author's note: I'm back again. This chapter was also hard to write but I'm happy with how it turned out. Let me know what you think. I'm not going to have much of a preview for the next chapter so I'll just say that soon the title Phantoms is going to start making sense.

Phantoms

Chapter 5

Sakura felt like her soul had been stabbed. It wasn't just his words, but his expression and the way he had asked. "What would make me happy," she mimicked.

"Yeah," he rolled his head saying his next words in dead tone. "Naruto are you okay?" He groaned, "I'm sick of hearing that question over and over again."

"But," she tried to respond. "I'm just worried about you."

"I know," he said quickly. "Baa-san told me already."

Sakura couldn't help but break out a small smile at her teacher's hated nickname. "What did she tell you?"

He looked away from her and didn't respond right away, this made ill feelings form in Sakura's stomach even before he began speaking. "She sent me some scrolls a few days after Kakashi-sensei brought me here to tell me what had happened." He sighed heavily, obviously in distaste at the memories he was conjuring up. "She said she ordered all academy and Jounin sensei to explain what had happened to….me…the night that Kyuubi attacked the village." He paused for a moment then decided to look her in the eye again. "Since you're her apprentice she planned to tell you herself, but you heard it from villagers first. She said you were really upset."

Sakura forced herself to travel back to that day when she had run towards the blaze that some of the villagers had made of Naruto's home. Ino had been running behind her, screaming and telling her not to go. The words that she had heard streaming from the mouths of those people had chilled her to the core despite the intensity of the heat that had threatened to burn her skin. Most of them had worked up a chant, yelling 'let the demon burn'. Others screamed their own accusations, calling him a thief, a monster, and most often a murderer.

As their killing intent washed over her she didn't even attempt to hold tears back. At the time she had no idea that Naruto had never gone back home so the screams of the crowd brought out sick and desperate emotions in Sakura. She resorted to yelling and grabbing at them to try to stop it but her one voice was hardly detectable among the hundreds of others and they pushed her away easily with her mind and body weak from the strain of healing Hyuuga Hanabi the night before.

A larger body suddenly engulfed Sakura and pulled her away from the scene quickly. She was so upset that it didn't even occur to her that she could be in any danger, thankfully it had been someone who hadn't meant her any harm. "He's not here," the man finally told her breaking her out of the spell she was under. "These people haven't hurt him." Jiraiya continued to assure her and calm her before taking her to her to the Hokage tower.

"Yeah I was upset," she said coming back to the present. "In fact that's probably an understatement." He didn't seem to have anything to say so Sakura thought it was the time to give him more assurance. "I wasn't upset with you at all, I just couldn't believe the way people were acting." She pretended to brush her hair aside to cover up the fact that she was checking her cheeks for tears. "Then once I knew about Kyuubi…I suddenly understood a lot of things." She looked down as she thought of their childhood, she knew it couldn't be easy for him to hear she acknowledged his unfair treatment so many years later. "Looking back it's so absurd that the academy teachers would…"

"Stop it," he snapped at her.

"What," she met his gaze again, he was struggling for words.

"I don't want your pity," he finally told her in a forceful voice.

"But I just wanted…" she tried to come up with something that didn't sound pitiful but her mind could only come up with sentiments of sorrow.

He started walking again. "Let's just get going, they'll catch up to us at this point."

"Wait," she called after him. She expected that he would turn around if she didn't start following but he continued on, the tips of his spiky hair disappearing over the hill he had just climbed. "Naruto, why," she didn't even know what she was mumbling to herself about. Her mind wandered to her teacher for a moment and Sakura began to feel angry. She had obviously sent them to check on Naruto, and that's probably why Iruka had grown increasingly anxious as they neared the end of the journey. Tsunade could have at least told her she would be seeing her teammate so she could prepare herself and have something to say to him.

Sakura sprinted down the path to catch up to Naruto, she didn't have any idea where this Rin lived so she had to stay with him. Naruto came into view again and she wondered if it was a better idea to walk with him or trail behind and try to talk to him later. Sakura didn't want to do anything that would push him further away then he already seemed to her. Before she could even come to a conclusion she heard Naruto utter what was obviously a fake cough, it was enough to catch her attention. At that moment he drifted to the left, leaving space enough for her to walk beside again. When he stole a glance backward she was sure it was an invitation.

She bridged the rest of the gap and walked silently next to him for a few minutes. She looked around and didn't see any sign of a house. Kakashi had said it would be about a thirty minute walk, so she could only assume they would be reaching the midpoint fairly soon. She started hearing the Jounin's words in her head, he wouldn't have whispered something like that to her unless he truly meant it. Sakura felt a huge weight pulling at her heart. Something inside of her teammate was broken, she wanted so desperately to fix it and see his face break out into that ridiculous grin. Her hands healed wounds not souls, this was a truth that she hated to embrace.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Naruto broke the silence once again. Sakura looked to him and saw a smile crossing his face. This brought her no joy since she could see it was forced. Sakura thought of telling him she didn't want him to feign happiness for her but was sure he would consider that pity once again. She wished so much for it to be two months ago before they met Hinata in that alleyway.

Sakura gasped. "Hey, I just remembered something." Caught up in the sudden recollection she found it easy to talk again. "You never got a chance to answer my question Naruto."

"What question," he asked back clearly confused by the sudden change she'd taken.

"Before we met Hinata in the alley we were talking remember." Naruto suddenly assumed his deep in thought pose, looking up and squinting as if bringing back the memory was actually strenuous but he didn't seem to be recollecting. "I was teasing you about Jiraiya." Sakura felt pleased with herself as she remembered how she'd made him so uncomfortable. "I said that he probably used you as bait for younger women." She smiled when Naruto laughed, truly laughed for the first time. "Then you said that you would never put a woman in that kind of danger."

"Yeah I remember that now," Naruto sounded thoughtful. Sakura waited for more as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, which was always a clear sign of embarrassment. "Then when you were done laughing at me you asked me that."

Sakura held her breath for a second, waiting for him to confirm what she wanted to know. "So do you?"

He took a nervous breath. "Do I still have a crush on you?"

Sakura waited patiently for an answer. Naruto kept running his hand through his hair, making it even messier then usual. "Well do you?" He looked over to her, the expression on his face was sincere which surprised Sakura. She thought the situation would feel more awkward, that he would say something stupid and make things difficult but that's not what he said.

"Do you really want me to answer that now?" He had put a bit of emphasis on the last word and Sakura didn't miss that. It suddenly dawned on her that in light of the last two incredibly emotional months it was probably not the best time to be asking this.

"I want," she thought over her words carefully. "I want your honest answer."

He breathed out slowly and gave her an apologetic look. "No I don't." Sakura couldn't help but feel relieved, apparently it showed on her face. "Sakura why does that make you smile."

She waved her hands at him in apology. "Hey don't get the wrong idea, I just like knowing that's all." He must have accepted this because he gave her a small nod, but she decided to press a bit more. "Can I ask why?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "While I was away I had a lot of time to think about things."

"You mean you think," Sakura couldn't help but tease.

"Yeah my secret life of thinking," he chuckled a bit. "Don't tell anyone." He turned sincere again. "After some time had passed I realized that I cared about you just not in that way."

"I see," Sakura murmured to herself. This news actually made her feel very happy.

"Besides," he sighed. "You can't force someone to care about you, and you care about Sasuke."

Sakura's eyes widened at these words. "You can't force someone to care," she repeated in shock.

Naruto, realizing that he had upset her quickly tried to minimize his words. "I meant that you and I are just friends." His second statement only seemed to make her more upset. Sakura's hands were raised halfway as if they were trying to decide to fly to her face or form a fist to punch him. "Its fine," he tried again. "I'm glad we're friends."

Sakura twisted her head and quickened her pace, it was all she could do to cope with the swirl of emotion that was building. She couldn't believe that he thought her emotions toward him were so minimal. She wouldn't tolerate it. "Just friends," she questioned out loud. "You think we're just friends."

Naruto was genuinely shocked by her outburst. "We're teammates," he offered, hoping that had something to do with her sudden frustration with him.

"That's right," she continued walking slightly ahead but stared back at him. "We're from a genin cell that had to go through more hell then anybody else."

"I haven't forgotten our promise to bring Sasuke back," Naruto declared. "You don't have to worry."

Now Sakura was sure of her feelings. "You think that I'm so shallow that a promise to bring back Sasuke-kun is the only reason I'm tied to you."

He began looking around and shaking his head. "I don't know Sakura," though he wouldn't look directly at her Sakura caught glimpses of the expression in his eyes which seemed slightly angry. "What I'll never forget is how invisible I was to everyone whenever Sasuke was around, especially you." Sakura hugged her arms in shame, she couldn't deny what she had done in her younger years. "And now I'll never get an honest answer."

"You'll never get an honest answer about what," she questioned.

Naruto breathed out and let his head fall back. "I'm never going to know what people really think of me." Sakura knew that Naruto was an emotional person, but she was used to screaming and yelling. She didn't know if the calmness he was displaying was from maturing the three years he was gone, or if he'd just drastically changed when his secret got out. "Everybody will act differently towards me now."

"You weren't invisible to me Naruto." He stared at her, the disbelief in his eyes was obvious.

"I told you not to pity me." Sakura started to open her mouth to say something back but was caught off guard when he increased his pace and caught up to her again. "You wouldn't have noticed if I dropped dead until Sasuke started leaning toward Orochimaru." Sakura felt a lump forming in her throat, she wanted to say something back but couldn't. She tried to beg him to stop with her eyes but could see he wasn't finished. "After seeing that brother of his again he changed for good and you knew you couldn't do anything so you started to rely on me. You needed me to get him back."

"Naruto," she uttered his name in a pleading tone. His eyes instantly turned soft and he looked away for a minute to shake off the feelings he'd just let out. Sakura couldn't help it, she started crying, it was too painful to hear those words come out of his mouth. She'd told herself that the things she'd done back then were selfish but still forgivable acts but she wasn't sure now.

"We shouldn't be talking about this," he finally thought aloud. "I'm sorry I yelled at you again." His voice and expression were no longer angry. Sakura began to feel guilty because she was sure that he was betraying his real feelings for her sake. This touched her and gave her hope in an odd way, it meant that he wanted to keep his bond with her despite the pain that might be involved. Still she wanted to show him that he was wrong, that she really did care about him.

"Naruto," she grabbed his hand and dug her heels into the ground to make their march come to a stop once again. Sakura wanted stillness and his undivided attention for what she was about to confess. "You're right that I was selfish and turned to you when I knew I couldn't stop Sasuke-kun."

"Sakura, you don't have to…"

"But," she loudly interrupted him. "You're wrong that I only care about you because you're my last tie to Sasuke-kun." She looked up again to see what his response was and was a bit surprised to see that he was focusing on her hands that were still holding his. "You never did believe me when I told you why I cut my hair in the middle of the Chuunin exam did you?"

He gripped her hand a little bit but did not lift his head. "No, not really."

Sakura smirked to herself hearing that. "I cut it off with my kunai because that girl from the Sound had my hair wrapped around her fist."

"You what," his head shot up to look at her in surprise. "Why did you lie to me about it?"

His grip on her hand was now firm, a bit protective. "I didn't want you to panic," she answered honestly. "Also I was afraid of telling you what Sasuke-kun had done when the curse seal first emerged." He kept his eyes locked with hers, now they had a hint of curiousness in them that made the blueness seem a bit brighter. "Sasuke-kun asked who had hurt me and one of the Sound nin decided to take credit." She shuddered as she thought of what Sasuke had done. "He was going to kill them. He only stopped when I begged him to." She waited to give him time to respond but he only continued to listen. "Then you want to know what he told me later after you fell asleep?"

"What," he questioned.

"He told me that I should tell him if anyone ever hurt me like that again. He said he'd avenge me." She hissed as she said those words as if they were vulgar.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Sakura smiled as she released one of her hands to point at his face. "You," she emphasized, "said just a bit ago that you had time to think and discovered that you didn't have a crush on me."

"Yeah," Naruto didn't see where this was going.

"I also had a lot of time to think back then." She began fiddling with the strap of her backpack with her free hand, feeling a bit strange talking so openly with him about this. "During that time before the final matches of the Chuunin exam, and later when you were away and Sasuke-kun was in the hospital. I had more then enough time to think about everything I'd never given proper thought to."

Naruto stared at her, fascinated by what he was hearing.

"I asked myself _what if_ a lot." She swayed her head to and fro as she jumped from question to question. "What if we hadn't met Orochimaru? What if I said I wouldn't take the exam with you and Sasuke-kun? What if you had woken up before Sasuke-kun that day? What if you were the one making a promise to me toward people who would try to hurt me?" Sakura breathed out heavily, she felt like she was dropping a great weight from her soul. "Well I've always been sure of the answer to the last question." She squeezed his hand again. "You would have said you'd protect me first, not that you would avenge me later."

"Sakura," he whispered, feeling a bit awestruck at her.

The pink haired girl seemed deep in thought for a moment before she continued on. "I think it was around that time that I realized that only things that have happened in the past matter to Sasuke-kun. Even his ambition to kill his brother is tied to his past." She turned sad, "sometimes I wonder if his soul died with his family and he just cuts away at every tie that reminds him time has moved forward without them." Naruto did not miss the affection that was laced in her voice. He could tell without even probing her for the information that she was still lovestruck for the Uchiha. "You're different from him Naruto. You have a horrible past too but you have always been looking to the future, trying to make ties instead of breaking them. So I started to think that you were just a really misunderstood kid, and I admired you." She gave him knowing look, "but I wasn't about to tell you back then because I didn't want to be asked out on another date." Sakura had hoped that the last comment would at least get a small rise out of him but he stayed solemn. "I just want you to know this Naruto." He had an unreadable expression on his face. "Even back then I trusted you more then I trusted anyone else, and I still do."

She gave his hand one more squeeze before letting go and turning to walk down the path again. No sooner had the cool air touched her hand then she felt it trapped in the deathgrip of her teammate once again. She twisted herself back to him in surprise. She couldn't see his face, it was bowed to the ground. Sakura worried for a minute that she had done something terribly wrong and made things even worse, she was trying to think of how she could apologize when he finally spoke again. "No, I'm not okay."

"What," she asked back confused.

He didn't look up but tugged at her hand urging her to come closer. "You asked me if I was okay...no, I'm not."

Sakura's heart started beating fast, something had changed. Somehow she knew that this was the one opportunity she would ever have to gain his trust completely. He was willing to let her into that deep darkness that he tried to hide. She could not make a mistake here, if she did he would never trust anyone with his secrets and he would just continue to suffer alone forever. "How can I help Naruto?"

He started shaking, Sakura could feel it thought her hot hand. "I don't think you can."

The girl just stared at her suffering friend, she'd never thought he could look so lost. The worst part about it was her realization that this was how it had always been, this was not a new emotion. "Naruto," she started to think of words of comfort but none seemed to compensate for the magnitude of depressing memories she was sure he had running through his head. "Come here."

She caught him off guard when she pulled sharply on his hand and he stumbled forward. He dropped Rin's things again when he felt her arms surround him. "Sakura," he jerked back in surprise when he realized she was hugging him. He didn't succeed in freeing himself, Sakura had a good grip on the back of his jacket this time.

"Naruto, its okay," she tried to assure him. Slowly she felt his initial tension fade from his body and he eventually lifted his own hands up to rest on her shoulders since her backpack prevented him from fully returning the embrace.

Naruto had been hugged before, but usually out of happiness, gratitude, or fear by the other person. This felt completely different from every other experience. "Sakura, why are you doing this?"

She tightened her grip a little bit, saddened that he would even ask her such a thing. "I already told you, because I care about you. Why is it so hard for you to believe someone would?"

"Because I have a giant demon trapped inside of me, everyone's always afraid." He couldn't believe he'd actually said it out loud, but he felt like he'd lost all control of his thoughts by that point.

"Then they're idiots," Sakura pulled back far enough so she could look him in the eye. "Kyuubi's sealing is something that happened to you when you were one day old. That seal is not who you are, and it doesn't make you a demon either."

Naruto seemed to take in what she said but Sakura observed something happening internally and the expression on his face turned dark once again. "Would you be saying that if the seal broke this very second and Kyuubi was free again?"

Sakura turned frightened at that question and he'd been staring her straight in the eye so there was no hiding it. He wormed his way out of her arms again but she grabbed his arm again before he could walk away from her. "If Kyuubi broke that seal," she searched for words, her voice emotional with her desire to ease his fear. "If he broke free right now….I'd scream at him, you god dammed demon you killed my friend."

This made Naruto freeze, he hadn't expected that. In the millions of scenarios that he'd played out in his mind he had never allowed himself to believe he would be mourned if the fox ever broke free of him. "Sakura, I…" He stared back at her not knowing how to tell her what he felt, he could only come up with the simplest statement. "Thank you Sakura."

Sakura stood still for a moment as if she were lost in her thoughts. "Uzumaki Naruto, when a girl confesses her heartfelt feelings of friendship you don't say thank you." She walked up to him with purpose, his eyes widened, wondering what she was up to. "You have to show how you feel."

"What do you mean?"

"Smile dammit," she laughed. Naruto felt an overwhelming sense of contentment fall over him and he couldn't help but comply with that demand.

To be continued:


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own no part of Naruto and probably never will.

Author's note: Yes, (DoA is cheering to herself) the plot finally feels like it's moving to me now. In fact I had a little too much plot going and have decided to split chapter 6 in two. There was just too much going on all at once and I didn't want to make reader's heads spin trying to figure out what I was doing. So most of ch 7 is actually written but since it has some pivotal moments in it I want to refine it a bit more. So enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think so far.

Phantoms

Chapter 6

"C'mon Naruto just tell me where the seal is."

"Kiba-kun maybe Naruto-kun doesn't want to talk about it." Hinata tried to reason with her teammate who had been asking non-stop questions ever since they arrived at Rin's house.

"What's the problem?" He gestured to himself and the two girls. "We're all friends of his?"

"Maybe it's none of your damn business," Naruto scowled.

Kiba grew an annoyed expression before exchanging it for a cruel smirk. "Naruto you use the same bath house that I do so unfortunately I've seen everything there is to see of you but I've never noticed a big-assed seal."

With this comment Hinata's face erupted in red and her hands flew to her face to cover her startled gasp. Naruto struggled to find air again as he choked on the rice that he had been eating innocently. Sakura however simply got pissed. She slammed her fists on the small table and leaned across in the most threatening manner she could manage. "Kiba you jerk, there are ladies at the table."

"You're right, sorry Hinata." He bowed his head to his teammate in apology but turned back to his food without another glance at Sakura.

Knowing that she'd only be supplying him with more material if she yelled again Sakura fell back grumbling and reminded herself that he wasn't normally like that. Naruto didn't make much of a scene of it thankfully. She was glad she thought to tell him about Shino and Chouji before they arrived. Naruto would have no doubt asked Kiba and Hinata why their teammate wasn't with them if she hadn't but it also warned him to be sensitive to the two survivors of team 8. Hinata had only grown quieter and depressed but Kiba was being loud and obnoxious. Sakura supposed that was to draw the attention away from what was really bothering him, ironically that was exactly what Naruto had always done, she supposed her blond teammate saw right through Kiba.

"Why do you want to know about the seal?" Everyone turned their gaze back to Naruto, the girls were both surprised that he was continuing the conversation, not changing the subject.

Kiba also a little surprised turned thoughtful before answering. "Because I'm curious I guess"

"Like I was saying before, what makes you think it's your business?" Naruto took a drink while he waited for the other boy to answer. He was trying to stay cool under the pressure of all Kiba's inquiries. Until this last question they had been about the pranks he had pulled or the unusual power that he had always possessed for no explainable reason until it was revealed that he was the Kyuubi container.

"It's hard to believe that someone could actually have a demon inside of them without some obvious sign." Naruto stared at him in disbelief and began tracing the whisker marks on his cheeks. Kiba chuckled understanding what the other boy was indicating. "Lots of people have marks on their face," he said indicating his own, "usually I don't think anything of it."

"Well it always seemed obvious to me," Naruto said in a monotone voice.

Sakura watched this while fighting her own mental battle but gave in to her own impulses. "Dammit now I'm curious."

"Sakura," Naruto questioned.

She thought about holding it in but her prying nature wouldn't let it go. "Where the hell is the seal?" Naruto, who had been sitting next to her on the ground, began scooting away. Sakura wasn't about to let him get away. She got on her knees and leaned over to stare him down. "I've seen you in shorts and I've seen you with your shirt off, so unless the 4th was a pedophile I should have seen it too."

"Ahh," Naruto gave out a small yell, he couldn't believe he was in the middle of this, he turned to his final dinner partner. "Hinata, come on help me here."

"Umm…well Kiba-kun….Naruto-kun," the girl started stammering.

"Hey you want to know too don't you Hinata?" The poor girl's eyes grew wide in embarrassment, she almost accidentally activated her bloodline limit. Kiba of course could see this knowing the girl as well as he did but he didn't let up, putting his hand on her shoulder as he prodded more. "C'mon admit it."

"Yes," she replied in a nervous whimper.

"Hinata, you too?" For once in his life Uzumaki Naruto was not trying to be the center of attention and was failing miserably. "Why," he directed the question at the shy girl this time.

"Umm," she began stammering and pushing her fingers together being put on the spot like that. "I guess because if I saw that it was a strong seal I wouldn't worry about Kyuubi hurting you."

That statement forced an uncomfortable silence to fall upon the group. Sakura suddenly felt cold even contemplating Hinata's thought. She'd digested that Naruto had been subjected to unjustified hatred by the people of his own village, but what about Kyuubi himself. Certainly the demon must be furious that he was sealed, and Tsunade and Jiraiya had let on that Kyuubi's chakra somehow affected Naruto. Now she wondered if Kyuubi ever stole an opportunity to harm him, the only person he really had access to.

"You don't have to worry about that Hinata-chan." Naruto gave the girl a reassuring smile but it didn't settle Sakura's new fears. If there was really nothing to worry about her teammate would have supplied them with ten reasons why, but he didn't. She made up her mind that she would get him to talk about it later.

"Okay so why is it we've never seen it," Kiba questioned again.

"Because it fades," Naruto finally decided to answer in defeat.

"It fades," Sakura repeated. She'd never heard of a seal that could fade away but still remain active.

"It only appears if I'm using a lot of charka," he decided to explain.

"So it's a living seal." The group turned their heads to Hinata wondering what she meant. She blushed when she realized that they wanted an explanation from her. "Umm, a living seal is a type of seal that is put on a person's body by someone else to force their chakra to mold in a certain way. When that person is not using chakra it fades away until the seal is needed again."

"I've never heard of a seal like that," Sakura thought back to her medical training figuring there had to be some mention of such a seal somewhere. She turned back to the Hyuuga girl with an intense gaze. "How do you know about something like that?"

"Well," she looked down shamefully and began playing with her fingers again. "The caged bird seal is also a living seal. As a member of the head house I had to learn how to control the seal as well as….how to cast it."

"You must be right about Naruto's seal then Hinata," Kiba spoke out. He knew how bad a subject Hyuuga family life was to bring up with just about anyone so he wanted to stop any talk of them now. He turned back to Naruto again. "So now that we've established why we've never seen it why don't you show us?"

"You're not going to give up are you," Naruto asked annoyed.

"Nope," Kiba smirked.

"Fine," Naruto sighed while unzipping his jacket. For a second Sakura thought that she should demand knowing what exactly was coming off before he did anything, but he didn't discard any part of his clothing, only pulling his shirt up enough to expose his abdomen. The girls held their breath when they saw him close his eyes and start gathering chakra to his core, Kiba just watched curiously. Moments later the ink-like markings rose in their formation and the complex seal appeared around his navel. Naruto opened his eyes again and began searching their faces for a reaction.

Kiba seemed impressed and Naruto assumed he was trying to figure out how it was supposed to work. Hinata's face seemed sad for some reason. Sakura's reaction actually surprised him. She looked like she was worried, and she was staring him in the eye, not looking at the seal.

"Happy now," Naruto said as he let his shirt drop back where it belonged.

"I'm moderately satisfied," Kiba took another bite of food as if nothing important had transpired. "I'll stop wondering about it now," he then seemed to stop to think about something for a moment. "And I promise I won't tell anybody about it."

"Huh," Naruto was surprised that he had added that promise at the last second.

"It's your business, you can trust me though."

The two girls both smiled and gave Naruto reassuring nods that seemed to say that they echoed Kiba's sentiments. This made Naruto's picture of the world brighten substantially for the second time that day. He was glad that despite what had happened he still had friends.

About twenty yards away a man stood in a partially opened doorway watching the four teenagers sitting at the outdoor table.

"I think it might have been a better idea to stop them before it went that far Kakashi."

"Relax Rin those kids are good friends of his." He turned his head to his old teammate and she watched his eye crinkle, the only real way to tell that he was smiling. "Weren't you the one that said he needed to start talking about his problems instead of bottling them up? Well he's trusting his friends with a big secret now isn't he?"

Rin shot him a death glare. "Don't use my words against me Kakashi."

"Normally I would agree with you Rin-san but I know these kids too and I think they will keep Naruto's secrets." Iruka smiled at her, he was glad that this woman obviously seemed to care about Naruto a great deal for the short amount of time she'd known him.

"But to actually show them the seal is going a bit far, especially with this Akatsuki organization still out there too. Uchiha Itachi is still one of their members and can use his sharingan to get that information out of inexperienced Chuunin like them."

"If that happens I'll worry about it then," Kakashi replied lazily turning back to the teens outside.

"Don't be careless with other people's lives," Rin retorted as she stood up from the table. Feeling frustrated she grabbed her plate in one hand and Kakashi's empty one in the other. This turned out to be great mistake as both plates crashed to the floor when the muscles in her arms began to spasm. The sight instantly alarmed Iruka but Kakashi reacted calmly. He circled his arms around her midsection and supported her weight that way as he carried her back to her chair. Iruka thought it was a strange way to carry her until he saw her legs were in the same state.

"Rin, just let me handle things like that while all these people are in the house. Your body can't handle a lot of stress," Kakashi said while holding her now shaking hands still on the tabletop.

She was hissing and a single tear had forced its way out of her left eye. Iruka wondered if he should call Sakura inside to alleviate the woman's pain but Kakashi had been firm when he said that any spell she had should just be allowed to pass. It finally made sense to him why a woman who had only attained Chuunin status was given permission to live outside the village borders. The Hokage had described Rin's condition as a severe and unexplainable impairment, he thought that was a severe understatement to describe what had happened to this former medic nin.

After a few minutes had passed Rin took a deep breath and turned her hand over and gave Kakashi's a gentle squeeze of gratitude. Iruka realized that this must be a signal that she was fine because he let her go and sat in his seat. He gave Iruka a nod that seemed to say thanks for not making a large fuss over Rin's episode.

"So," Iruka addressed Kakashi. "Should we go out and talk to them now that they're done eating?"

"There's no need for that." Kakashi said yawning. "Let's leave them alone tonight, and we'll get to it in the morning."

---------------------------------------------

"Damn, even I think this place is creepy," Kisame hissed while tossing aside the ANBU whose neck he had just snapped.

"Strange, I feel comfortable." Itachi walked purposefully into the large house and took inventory of what had changed and what had not since he'd last stepped inside.

"So which room used to be yours?" Kisame mocked while waving an Uchiha family portrait that he'd plucked off the wall in Itachi's face.

"I never liked this picture," the darker man casually mused while taking it from his partner's hands. "With my mother standing next to me it's too obvious how similar I look to her." He put the picture back on the wall and continued down the hallway. "I would have preferred to resemble my father more."

"I think your brother got it worse then you."

"You're correct about that," Itachi nodded in agreement to the other man. They passed a particularly large room and Itachi stopped to stare inside. Kisame followed his gaze and was surprised to see a large stain on the floor. He'd killed often enough to know it was a bloodstain, what was odd was the white outline that ANBU must have made of the bodies when they investigated. After 8 years it should have been cleaned up. Itachi must have had the same thought. "It seems Sasuke didn't give them permission to remove it."

"That kid's grudge against you runs deep Itachi."

"My little brother is very stubborn." Itachi turned and continued walking down the hall calmly finally turning into a small bedroom.

"So this was your room huh," Kisame started looking around at the scattered belongings.

"No, actually this was Sasuke's room."

"What the hell do you want to go poking around your brother's room for?"

Itachi gave an amused laugh. "Kisame, you don't mind going back outside to stand guard do you?" He turned to him and activated his sharingan. "I'd like to be uninterrupted for now."

Now it was Kisame's turn to be amused. "Sometimes I think I'd like to know what the hell your agenda is Itachi."

"Only sometimes," Itachi inquired to his partner who was already moving out the door.

"Yeah, but then I remember what you did to your own parents. So do whatever the hell you want just don't make eye contact with me while you're doing it."

Once Itachi's was convinced the other was outside he turned his attention to the bed in the corner of the room. He grabbed the edges and effortlessly flipped the mattress onto its side, exposing a large slit. He reached inside and pulled out a sealing scroll as well as a pouch containing 5 small stones.

"So you want to make it difficult Orochimaru?" He whispered to the scroll as his bloodline limit examined what remained of the chakra he'd embedded into it long ago. "I'll play a game with you, after all I've been bored for awhile."

With the tip of his kunai Itachi cut across his palm. Satisfied, he removed a blue stone from the pouch and dropped it into the bowl of blood that he'd made out of his hand. The crimson liquid seemed to burst to a quick boil but a freezing cold sensation filled Itachi's entire being, he relished the thrill of it. He laid the scroll onto the ground and unrolled it to its full length, and then he held his hand over the center before he spoke his incantation.

"I command the powers that only belong to the dead to fall upon the soul I have connected to this marker. I desire that death may flow in his body as freely as his life's blood. Those who have died by the darkest of intentions may feed on him, I will allow this." He opened his fingers and the blood spilled itself onto the paper and formed into complex markings without the aid of pen or brush. "Seal," he slammed his cut hand to the paper which simultaneously set the power into motion as well as healed his scar.

Calmly he began rolling the scroll up again when he became aware of another presence in the room. He looked up and his eyes widened in moderate alarm when he saw the teenage figure of a girl standing in Sasuke's doorway. "To think you're still around," he addressed her. Looking her over Itachi gave the woman a sinister smile. "I didn't think it was actually possible for you to become even filthier then you were before." Her skin and hair remained the unnatural shade of white he remembered and the eyes solid orbs of black that always seemed to stare right through him. The outfit was the same as well, blue jeans, t-shirt, and a blue nylon coat. While they had been disgustingly dirty before the garments now seemed to be rotting off her frame.

"Why did you even bother showing yourself, you can't do anything to me?" He tied the scroll up and put it back in the old hiding spot. He walked to the door and grabbed her by the chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. "What a pathetic existence yours must be."

Throughout the entire exchange she did not do anything to indicate that she was even capable of speech or expression. Itachi's keen eyes saw a few strands of her hair begin flowing away from him, pulled by an invisible force. The next instant her body was violently and awkwardly jerked backward out of his grip and she flew a few feet before her solid body disappeared into nothingness.

Unphased Itachi walked back outside to see two more ANBU dead at Kisame's feet. "Let's take them somewhere else, I don't want attention drawn to my house."

"Whatever Itachi."

To be continued:

Like I said at the top, I'm working on ch 7 so let me know what you think so far. This story's plot is complex so I like to know if people are following me.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Do I have to say it again….I don't own Naruto.

Author's note: Well everyone, not only did I get the chapter done sooner then I expected but it's my birthday so I'm in a great mood today. Like I said last time this was originally the second half of chapter 6 but it was a mess so I chopped at it for another week and it was worth the extra effort (the first draft was a train wreck trust me). Besides I wanted the scene in the Uchiha house to be significant so it was fitting that it was the end of a chapter. And no the girl that showed up is not from The Ring (one person messaged me asking and another wrote it in a review…though I think EfrainMan was kidding with me). She's OC…I made her up…..but she's important and will come back later so just wait and her appearance will make sense. Anyway on with the story.

Phantoms

Chapter 7

"Admit it, it felt good that they saw the seal and still accept you Naruto."

"Fine, yes it's a big relief Sakura." The two old teammates had broken off from Hinata and Kiba after Sakura asked them to let her talk to Naruto alone for awhile. There was a cliff not far from Rin's house and now the two of them were sitting on the edge, letting their feet dangle over the deadly drop. Naruto had acted lively with Kiba and Hinata around but now that they were alone again he gone back to the sullen mood from earlier that day, though not quite as deeply. "It's just really strange to talk to anybody about it. The seal was always something I was supposed to keep secret."

"You had to keep it secret or you wanted to keep it secret," Sakura inquired with a tone that let him know the question was serious.

"Both," he tossed a rock into the chasm. "Even I was supposed to obey the Third's law you know."

This was a bit of a surprise to Sakura. "Really, why is that? It's your life you should have been allowed to tell whoever you wanted to."

"Nah, I'm glad he ordered me to keep my stupid mouth shut." He turned to face her and gave her a knowing look. "I think the reaction would have been bad if I mentioned that when Kakashi-sensei told us to introduce ourselves." Sakura contemplated what she thought her reaction might have been. She was pretty sure she would have just cowered behind Sasuke, that or she wouldn't have believed him.

"You were sure that Sasuke and I would reject you if we knew didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I really wanted to be judged by what I could do, not by what I had sealed inside me."

Sakura sighed remembering how hard Naruto had always worked back then just to gain the approval of his teammates, something that should have been given without question. In so many ways Sakura was disgusted with herself when she thought back to her old missions.

"Naruto, I really want you to know I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what," he asked tossing another rock into the abyss carelessly.

"I probably had more opportunities then anyone else in the world to be nice to you but I kept throwing them all away when they came along."

"Hey don't say things like that," his voice brightened a little. "I never thought that about you."

"Why not," she asked in disbelief. "I was always so mean to you."

Naruto thought for a minute before answering. "You could act mean and selfish sometimes but I was always sure you were a good person. You save people's lives for a living now don't you?" She smiled at this, "See I was right about you."

Sakura was a bit awed by him in that moment. "Uzumaki Naruto you're a better person then all of us," she gave him that worried look again. "Don't change okay."

"Stop looking at me like that," he pointed in-between her eyes, a bit of anger laced in his voice. "You did that on the way here and when I showed you the seal, I don't like it." Sakura's expression didn't change, in fact his frustration seemed to make her worry deepen. "Say, why weren't you looking at the seal like Kiba and Hinata. You were looking me in the eye."

"That's because your eyes changed."

"Huh," he hadn't expected that answer.

"What Hinata said got me thinking about Kyuubi." She began rubbing her fingers against her knees to counteract the uneasiness she felt. "It suddenly hit me like it hadn't before, Kyuubi is actually inside of you. Despite what I said on the walk here it still seemed like just words to me." She took a deep breath trying to remain calm and prevent the tears she wanted to shed. "She was trying to ask you if Kyuubi had ever hurt you and you didn't deny it, you just told her not to worry. Then you showed us the seal and it was undeniable." She paused momentarily remembering the sight of the Fourth's handiwork when it first appeared. "When you opened you eyes they just didn't seem right to me. Then I realized that the pupils were elongated, like a fox's eye. Seeing that made me nervous but you didn't act differently so I relaxed."

"Sakura, that's…"

She put up a hand to silence him and allow her to finish. "The more I think about it, the more I can compare your traits to that of a fox." She didn't like the look he was giving her, he obviously didn't want her to think this. "When you were younger you were a troublemaker and a trickster. Now that your older that seems to have matured into cunningness and an odd sort of wisdom about people…that's not necessarily bad by the way," she decided to add. "And it's physical too. Not just the whisker marks but even the way you move when you fight makes me think this."

He didn't say anything. Sakura simply watched as he threw his arms back and let them support him, she was afraid that if he pushed even the slightest bit he'd slide off the cliff's edge. "So what are you trying to say Sakura?"

"I'm worried," she lifted her feet from the edge and spun herself so she sat facing him. "I'm really worried for you." She gauged him for a reaction but he only gave her a sideways glance. "When I saw those eyes I had this horrible thought that maybe Kyuubi was doing something to you. He might be hurting you like Hinata said or he could slowly be trying to change you into something or someone else that would suite him." She shook her head. "How would people on the outside even know?"

It was silent for a minute before Naruto threw his head back groaning. "Whether I like it or not this stupid fox is part of me and always will be." He let his arms go limp and he fell onto his back. "People like me will take on the traits of what's sealed inside of us, the Third and Kakashi-sensei both told me that."

"So he's never done anything to you?"

"I won't lie to you Sakura, he's tried." He brought his hands up and started rubbing his eyes. "The Fourth's seal is too good, he can't crack it, and it makes him furious. So yeah he tries to get at me whenever he can."

"Wait, have you actually talked to him?"

He split his fingers to make eye contact again. He didn't really want to give her reason to put him in a mental hospital but she'd see through his lying. "A few times," he let one arm fall and the other rest on his forehead. "It has to be a pretty desperate situation for that to happen."

"How desperate?"

"About to die desperate," he said as if it really wasn't all that important. "That's probably the biggest reason I have for becoming stronger, so I don't have to rely on him. If I don't need his power to survive then the seal won't break." He turned his head away really hoping she would stop asking about Kyuubi.

"Say Naruto?"

"Yeah," he replied. Her voice was different now, he really hoped she was changing the subject.

"Who were your parents?"

"What," asked back surprised.

"Who were they?"

"Why do you want to know all the sudden," he turned his head towards her again.

"I wonder who they must have been that you were chosen for the seal."

This had never happened to Naruto before, he wasn't sure what he should even think of her asking him such a thing. "I don't know," was all he could say.

Sakura scowled. "I know you've always been an orphan unlike Sasuke but you were allowed to have the record unsealed as soon as you became a genin. Don't tell me you never went to find out."

Naruto sighed and beat his fist to the earth behind his head, the pressure was enough that Sakura felt it through the ground. "There was nothing to find out, it's like they never existed, there's not even a record of my birth." Memories of the Hokage explaining his almost non-existence were usually things he didn't like to think about. "The stupid fox's rampage caused so many deaths and so much confusion that I don't even have a real name, the Hokage made it up."

Sakura's hand flew to her mouth. She wished she could take the question back. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked."

"Don't be, you had no way of knowing." He sat back up again, pulling her hand away. "I don't know why but I feel kind of glad that you cared enough to ask."

"You know Naruto if it makes you angry you should just say so. You've put up with way to much."

"It wouldn't do any good, besides," he smiled a bit like he used to. "I've done alright living on my own."

"I couldn't live alone like you," she let her head droop. Naruto couldn't tell if it was out of weariness or dissatisfaction with what she was hearing. "Hey Naruto, how long have you been on your own?"

"Since I was eight, the village won't let you live on your own before that."

She brought her head back up and Naruto was surprised to see those fiery eyes she used to give him whenever he said something foolish. "If you never had parents how did you afford to live on your own without a family estate?"

"Shit," the word flew out of Naruto's mouth, letting Sakura see that she'd stumbled onto something.

"The village only takes guardianship of orphans in an orphanage, no exceptions." She pointed an accusing finger at him. "Most parents arrange something with the village before their death so their kids can live as they want them to. If you never had parents there's no way you could have an arrangement, you couldn't have lived alone Naruto."

"Umm, no one ever really explained the orphan laws to me." He began struggling to find any excuse to throw her off.

"Then how do you know there are orphan laws?" He looked away, she could tell he was becoming frustrated with her again. She probably deserved it, her prying was going a bit far but she was determined to find out what had happened to him from the source. "Naruto what happened to you, why did you end up alone like that?"

"You're not going to like the answers," he crossed his arms. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation, a bit of a shock to Naruto.

"Fine," he looked at the stars above him instead of straight at her wondering how he should start. "I lied, I actually know a lot about the orphan laws in Konoha."

"What do the laws have to do with you ending up in that apartment by yourself?"

"A lot," he dropped his head and looked at her again. "The law says that all orphans have to be cared for by one of the orphanages up to age eight, but once the kid reaches that age things change." He gauged Sakura for a reaction so far, her eyes were slowly widening as she began thinking about things she'd never thought before. "You said most parents make an arrangement in case they die, you're wrong about that. All parents have to make that arrangement before they can take you home from the hospital. In a Ninja village like ours kids are orphaned so often that they made it a requirement." Sadness, anger, and frustration rising inside of him Naruto picked up another rock and threw it so hard they could hear the crack as it hit the opposite rock wall. "Lineage is very well documented because of things like bloodline limits or clan and village secrets, did you know that?"

"Of course," she whispered.

"So do you know where a kid like me falls?

"Where Naruto," she was almost afraid to ask.

"A kid that appears out of nowhere like me falls between the cracks." Naruto fought the urge to yell and curse as the faces of his earliest caretakers returned to his conscious mind. "After my eighth birthday they didn't have to keep me anymore." He watched Sakura's hands cover her mouth again, obviously she understood what he was getting at. "The orphanage I lived in wanted me out and the other two wouldn't take me in, those bitches that ran the place reminded me every day as my birthday got closer and closer."

"Didn't the Hokage say something," she asked desperately.

"The orphanages aren't run by ninja so the Hokage can't order them to do anything. It's up to the council and they're the ones who passed those stupid laws in the first place." Suddenly Sakura was thankful he had survived as well as he had. "A couple days before I turned eight the Hokage came to visit and he took me with him when he left. He brought me to my apartment and explained how I'd be living from then on out." Naruto saw a bit of disbelief on her face. "I didn't understand how or why it was arranged but I wasn't about to complain."

"So the Hokage took care of you," she crossed her arms, "no people would have made a big fuss if he had. The law to keep the sealing a secret is the only thing people criticized him for when it came to you." He stayed silent as she let this information sink in. She was furious, the law should have protected him but it had abandoned him. Things still didn't add up to her, if the Hokage used his influence to go over the council's head and set him up with food, shelter, and education there would have been mention of it when his secret came out months ago. Slowly her mind began processing the possibilities until only one made sense. "Naruto, you were adopted weren't you?"

"What did you say," he jumped up and started walking backwards to create distance.

She didn't waste a second she got on her feet and grabbed the front of his shirt to keep him from getting away. "I can tell just by your reaction that I'm right." He was dumbstruck and couldn't say anything back. "Somebody was responsible for you and it couldn't have been the Hokage. They had to pay for your food, apartment, and clothing. The academy isn't free either, plus you need a parent's permission to attend obviously."

"Geeze," he brushed her hand off. "Okay you're right for the most part."

"The most part," she was angry, not with Naruto but with whoever this person was. "Someone adopts an eight year old and leaves them to live alone in a crappy apartment on the bad side of town."

"Adopted isn't the right way to put it," he thought for a second, "I have a guardian. He took responsibility of me and paid me way but I didn't actually live with him."

"Who," Sakura demanded. She wanted to give this person a piece of her mind and introduce him to her favorite pair of black gloves.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," she was shaking her fist and Naruto could tell what was going on in her head.

"As much as I'd appreciate you kicking someone's ass for my sake don't in this case." He put his hand on top of her fist and pushed it down to make a point. "I'm actually pretty thankful for all he did for me."

"All he did for you," she grabbed him by the wrist that he had just used on her, shaking it to make him understand the injustice of what she was hearing. "You were left alone so young Naruto, so many horrible things could have happened to you."

"Horrible things were always happening to me," he interrupted. "My life before I was taken from the orphanage was absolute hell." Sakura looked into his eyes and almost couldn't stop herself from uttering a comparison to Sasuke. He was the only other person she'd ever known that had shown her such vengeful eyes.

"Naruto what did they do to you?"

"It doesn't matter." He closed his eyes and breathed deep, willing himself to banish the darkness that wanted to rise up in him. "It's over and I survived." Sakura waited for him to offer up more but it seemed he wanted to let it go.

"I still don't understand why you say you're thankful, what did he do?"

The edges of his lips turned up a bit, not to a full smile but rather a content expression. "Well for the first time in my life I was taken care of." He didn't want to elaborate on what he meant by that, it would only bring up more questions he didn't want to answer. "And since I found out about him it turns out he was the one who arranged for me to be moved to Iruka-sensei's class so I could finally pass."

"Found out," she questioned. "You mean you didn't know you were adopted?"

"Nope," he chuckled a bit at the new memories. "Actually I didn't know until old lady Tsunade found out."

"Tsunade-sensei?"

Realizing she wanted an explanation he went on, he'd already given her this much. "If you're going to leave the village for long periods of time you need special traveling papers so you can prove you're not a missing nin. Since she's the Hokage she'd have to sign them. When she was getting my paperwork ready for the perverted hermit to train me she found it in my file somewhere." He reached behind his head and scratched as he recalled being called to the Hokage office from the hospital after the failed mission to retrieve Sasuke. "She started asking me questions and realized that I was clueless."

"So she told you?"

"No," he suddenly seemed amused. "Actually she ordered him to tell me himself."

"So who the hell is it," she was anxious now.

He looked around for a second, checking that nobody back at the house had started eavesdropping. "If I say you have to promise to keep it a secret between us and you won't make a big deal out of it either."

"Okay, I promise."

Apparently still paranoid of unwanted ears he walked up and whispered the name in her ear, "its Kakashi-sensei."

"What," she gasped. A bolt of lightning couldn't have shocked her more. "Why?"

"Don't know," he shrugged. "He won't tell me why."

---------------------------------

Slowly the fog that had become Sasuke's mind began dissipating, realizing he was no longer outside he began to assess his surroundings. The ceilings and walls were metal, this was almost always an indication that he had fallen into a domain that Kabuto dominated. He found that he couldn't move his arms or his legs but his head could be twisted just enough to see that both were tied down, his palms facing up. He hated this, it meant that he couldn't grip anything and if they'd taken the time to tie him down he'd probably have good reason to very soon.

The pain in his chest had not disappeared but it was now tolerable. Sasuke took a breath to speak but began coughing from the effort as pain shot through his throat, the soft tissue felt severely abused. He assumed that he had succumbed to a screaming fit again, probably the reason he had ended up like this.

Disturbing sounds came from his left and Sasuke forced his Sharingan to come out so he could see despite the dim light. There he saw a younger sound nin that he had seen on occasion before though he'd never bothered to know her name or story. She was struggling for air as well as freedom from identical restraints. A newly formed curse seal was corroding her body, it didn't look like she would make it through the night.

A cold hand covered his mouth and Sasuke tensed as he couldn't see who it belonged to.

"You seem to have come back to your senses Sasuke-kun," said teenager relaxed slightly when he realized it was Kabuto's voice. "If you keep straining that throat of yours you'll lose your ability to speak so breath through your nose."

A small jolt ran through Sasuke's upper half and he realized as the older man peeled a piece of paper off his lips that he had sealed something. When he tried to protest it became obvious that it had been his voice, no sound would come out. In fact Sasuke was forced to breath through his nose since he could hardly will his mouth to open.

"Be still Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru's voice sounded from seemingly everywhere. Sasuke's eyes darted around trying to find him.

Kabuto began pulling off the bandages that were surrounding Sasuke's chest. Sasuke stared at him intensely. The older man paused for a second before whispering to the Uchiha. "What you're afraid of Sasuke, that's exactly what's about to happen."

Sharingan eyes spread wide, Sasuke violently thrashed attempting to break his bonds. The effort caused the pain in his chest to erupt once more. To Sasuke it felt like his heart was trying to escape him.

Orochimaru's clammy hand suddenly took hold of his jawbone forcing him to stop. "Don't you want the pain to stop Sasuke-kun?"

Struggling noises came from the girl's spot, Orochimaru guided Sasuke's head to look in that direction. Kabuto's back obscured his view of the girl's body but the look of pain and horror on her face left little to his imagination, her voice must have been sealed as well, she didn't scream as she was killed. When Kabuto finally turned Sasuke saw what he'd stolen from her. The heart in his hand was still beating thanks to Kabuto's medical skills.

Sasuke tried to will his senses to die as he felt Orochimaru pry his mouth open. He gave the Uchiha one simple order as Kabuto held the murdered piece of flesh over him and forced the last of her life's blood out, "drink."

--------------------------------------------

"Sakura, did I do something wrong?"

"No Kakashi-sensei." She turned back to her plate. "I'm just eating my breakfast lost in thought this morning."

"Okay," the Jounin accepted a bit reluctantly. He couldn't help but notice she gave him an odd look every couple of minutes or so. He decided to shrug it off and left his spot by the wall to go outside where Iruka was.

Once he was gone Naruto seized the opportunity. "You promised to not make a big deal out of it," he whispered in an attempt to hide their conversation from the rest of the table.

"What do you expect," she hushed back.

"Why are you guys whispering," Kiba pounded on the table. It was becoming really obvious to everyone that the dog user was far from a morning person. He'd managed to snap at everyone in the house at least once and he hadn't even been up for an hour.

"None of your business," Naruto snapped back, though out of nervousness.

"Naruto and I are having a difference of opinion about something our sensei did."

"Sakura," the blond pleaded.

"But I guess we can drop the subject." Naruto sighed in obvious relief while Kiba and Hinata just wondered what had provoked that exchange.

"Hinata," Rin's voice interrupted as she walked up behind the girl. "Can you carry the Hokage's order outside for me? I want to look everything over before you're on your way."

"I can do it," Kiba offered before the girl could say anything.

"But you're not done eating and Hinata is," Rin stood in his way. "Finish now young man," she turned back to the dark haired girl. "Hinata," she gestured to the two bags behind her.

Kiba sat back down grumbling again as Hinata helped Rin with the bags. As soon as they were out of earshot Sakura pointed at the boy across the table. "She doesn't want you to do everything for her you know."

"Mind your own damn business."

"Sakura's right," Naruto backed the girl up.

"You haven't been around, you don't know what's she's gone through."

Naruto gave him an annoyed glare. "I'm going to remember that next time the village wants to kill you."

"I just meant you don't know all the crap she's had to go through. Her sister's in the hospital, Shino's dead, she saw what happened to Chouji, and that emotionless prick of a father is always putting pressure on her the second she walks back in that house every day."

"WHAT," Naruto yelled. "She still lives with her father?" Nasty images of a bloodstained Hinata came to the forefront of his mind. The man had been trying to kill her so he had protected his friend. When he found out later Hiashi was Hinata's father it had horrified him to the core. At the time Tsunade promised that the clan head was locked up, Naruto assumed Hiashi would remain that way.

"Yes Naruto," Sakura exclaimed in an animated fashion. "Most kids live with their fathers, or guardians, whatever the case may be."

"Shut up about that Sakura," Naruto hissed in the lowest voice he could muster.

"Why wouldn't she live with her father," Kiba asked Naruto confused. Apparently Sakura's comment had not even registered with him.

Sakura stared at him oddly too. It clicked in his mind that nobody was aware of what had happened in that hospital room. "I…I just met him once and thought he was a real jerk is all." They continued to stare at him but they didn't have the chance to question him further.

"Kiba," Iruka called from the doorway. "Hinata wants to talk to you about something outside."

The boy left his still unfinished breakfast at the table and made his way out. Rin and Kakashi had to step aside as they were coming back into the house as well. The three adults stood in the kitchen stealing glances at one another. It suddenly dawned on Sakura that it was a bit odd that they had all found an excuse to be outside with Hinata when there was still food to be cleaned up in the kitchen. She was about to share the thought with Naruto but he had gone back to attacking his plate.

"NO WAY," Kiba yelled as he stormed back in and gave Iruka a violent two palmed shove to the chest that the older man obviously wasn't prepared for.

"What the hell," Sakura gasped at the sight of the outburst.

"Calm down," Kakashi ordered, grabbing the teen by the fist.

Sakura kept staring until she saw Naruto run to the opposite of the commotion. There Rin was slumping against the wall shaking violently. He lifted her up and carried her out the door to get the woman away from the chaos, she ran after him worried about Rin's condition. Kakashi and Iruka would have to handle Kiba.

Once outside with the door was shut Naruto laid the woman down to let her episode pass. Tsunade had told Sakura about the condition, and that medical techniques were usually ineffective but she made an attempt anyway forming general healing seals with her hands. Unfortunately her chakra didn't seem to have any soothing effect at all, a few minutes time was what Rin really needed.

While they waited for the older woman to recover Sakura finally noticed Hinata sitting a few feet away. The girl was sniffling and her face wet from heavy tears. "Hinata what's wrong?" She wandered over, figuring she was more help to the other girl at the moment.

"Kiba-kun got so upset," she whispered.

"Well that's his problem," she tried to sound cheerful but then she remembered he'd burst back in after coming out to talk with Hinata. "Hey, why did he get so upset?"

"The Hokage's order," she breathed. She seemed lost in her own thoughts, as if she didn't realize she was talking to Sakura at all. "I shouldn't have let him see I was crying." The Hyuuga girl looked down, Sakura then noticed the mission scroll in the girl's hands. It was different then the one the Hokage had given them a few days ago.

"What's the order Hinata," Sakura sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders to offer comfort. The other girl didn't even respond, only handing the scroll over so Sakura could read it herself. Quickly she unrolled it and skimmed the paper for its contents, once she understood she shook her head in confusion.

"What does it say Sakura," Naruto called over to them.

"It says she has to stay here with you."

To be continued:

Well thanks for reading, please leave a review and tell me what you think.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto.

Author's notes: Well last chapter I wrote in that Kakashi had actually adopted Naruto when he was 8, only one person commented on it but it's a pretty important element to the story so I decided to write a bit more about it in this chapter. I've rewritten this chapter more times then all the previous ones. I'm still not totally satisfied but I realize I need to keep writing more to see how the next part comes out and I'll come back and revise it.

Another one of my really helpful reviewers suggested that it might be a good idea to have something in the author's note about previous chapters since it's hard to remember everything from a fanfiction this long which I think is a good idea so I'm adding a little 'Last time' piece to the beginning of the chapter, we'll see how it works out. So enjoy the chapter and please leave a review….c'mon be nice.

Last time: (Story so far since this is the first time I'm doing this) Two Hyuuga kids are attacked, branch family kid dies, head family kid (Hanabi) lives. The Hyuuga go nuts and they all get arrested. Naruto is blamed for the attacks and is snuck out of town by Kakashi and they have been in hiding for the last two months, in the meantime more attacks have happened so blame has shifted from him. Sakura, Kiba, Hinata, and Iruka are sent on a mission to pick up medical supplies and find Naruto is living at their pickup stop. At first he is distant because he is afraid of rejection but Sakura wins him over and they are still friends. Sakura's many questions cause Naruto to accidentally admit that Kakashi had adopted him when he was eight years old. Sakura is mad about this since that meant Naruto had lived alone for almost five years but Naruto begs her to let it go. Before returning to the village the adults reveal that Tsunade has ordered Hinata to remain at Rin's house with Kakashi and Naruto though she doesn't give an explanation.

Phantoms

Chapter 8

Sakura tried to stay composed. It was difficult when she had two of the Sennin watching and waiting for a reaction. She couldn't believe she was here in the first place. Even Shizune had never been allowed into the Hokage library, she'd heard the older woman complain enough times to be sure. Tsunade had given Sakura the day off after returning from the mission to Rin's house but had ordered her to come by her office after sunset to discuss her attitude toward Kakashi.

Tsunade had picked up on it instantly as soon as Sakura made her mission report, she was very angry at her old teacher about something. When Tsunade pressed her, asking why Kakashi had suddenly earned the title 'bastard' instead of the normal 'lazy and perverted' she couldn't answer. Sakura's silence at her questions spoke volumes to the Hokage. Tsunade told Kiba and Iruka to leave so they could speak alone. As soon as they were out of earshot she began laughing out loud and correctly guessed what Kakashi had done.

"Count them," Tsunade ordered indicating the pile of papers that Sakura held in her hands.

The girl did her teacher's bidding, flipping and counting in her head while her eyes remained otherwise occupied. Jiraiya was leaning against the wall facing her so there was no way she could hide that she was taking inventory of everything that lay on the table and two short shelves. They had already told her that this little corner held all of Naruto's paperwork from birth to present and it was disturbing that she could actually see his life playing out on those shelves even though she hadn't opened the files. Everything was arranged by age more then category, a small label underneath indicating each year. Working in the Hokage's office she knew what color folder various reports are filed in. On the shelves for age's ten to twelve there were many green folders which she knew represented property damage, obviously from the many pranks that he'd pulled back then. What turned her stomach were the red files that dominated his earliest years, red folders held assaults and abuse cases. If she followed this timeline correctly it seemed that there was little need for red after the point that Kakashi took charge of Naruto's life.

She recalled the conversation she had with Naruto just two days before, he had mentioned briefly that life at the orphanage had been terrible but didn't open up about it. Now she learned there was a set of secret files about him locked away in a room only a few people had access to. She wondered what the hell had been done to him when he was young.

"There are 96 applications Tsunade-sama," she whispered when she flipped the final page.

"Do you see the significance of 96," Jiraiya questioned her, speaking for the first time since she entered the room.

Sakura stared at his smirking face for a moment as she wondered about his question. Seeing nothing there she turned back to the papers and began skimming them for the answer.

Tsunade finally hinted at her. "What's 8 multiplied by 12 Sakura?"

"96…oh, I see." Sakura began flipping pages again, examining the date at the top of each adoption application. "Kakashi-sensei filled one out each month." She looked at the papers a mixture of sadness and awe on her face until Jiraiya took them from her and began pondering over them himself.

"From the time Naruto was born Kakashi was trying to adopt the kid, kinda noble thing for a fourteen year old to offer." He scowled a little bit as he looked at the red marks at the bottom of each page. "Then month after month the Third denied his request."

"It wasn't until Naruto almost ended up on the streets that Sarutobi-sensei finally changed his mind," Tsunade picked up a plain looking folder and handed it to Sakura, "although the conditions of the adoption were far from usual."

Realizing what the new file must have contained Sakura grabbed it from her teacher's hands and began pouring over the papers. "What the hell is this? The Third ordered Kakashi-sensei to stay away from Naruto!" Her disbelief increased exponentially as she went line by line reading aloud the agreement the Third had drawn up with Kakashi. "You will not make contact with Uzumaki Naruto...You will submit all requests directly to the acting Hokage…You will not verbally acknowledge this agreement to any third party." She slammed the paperwork on the table and turned to the adults for confirmation. "That sounds like something that the Third would write up for a criminal. Why would the Third let Kakashi adopt Naruto and then order him to stay away?"

Tsunade sighed, truthfully she'd had a similar reaction to the news but she wasn't going to let Sakura's anger get to her. "I really wish he was here so I could ask him but he isn't anymore." This statement calmed Sakura's sense of righteousness a bit. "We only have Kakashi around to ask and he won't offer up that information."

"So what does he say?"

"Kakashi claims he made many promises to the Third concerning Naruto and he does not intend to break them." Tsunade kept her eyes closed, she didn't want to see the disappointment she knew would cross Sakura's face.

"What the hell," Sakura declared to the air around her once again. "Kakashi-sensei would have been an irresponsible father but at least he's not cruel. He would have protected Naruto from anything I'm sure of it."

"I believe the answer is hidden between the lines of all these denied applications," Jiraiya waved them around for effect. "The Third always wrote a little message at the end and it seems that he was having a secret conversation with Kakashi." Sakura reached out to read them herself to see what he meant but Jiraiya decided to save her the immense trouble he'd already gone through. "The basic theme is that Kakashi lost someone and that adopting Naruto would not fill that void that was formed."

"We believe the Fourth is the person that Kakashi lost."

"The Fourth," Sakura turned to Tsunade in confusion. "Kakashi-sensei was close to the Fourth."

"Kakashi was Arashi's's student," Jiraiya declared. Sakura jerked back, she couldn't believe that her lazy teacher had been taught by such a genius and she hadn't known. "Kakashi had gone through some hard times personally and it threatened his ability as a ninja, Arashi kept Kakashi close to keep him on the right path. Arashi wanted Naruto to been seen as a hero for his sacrifice. I don't need to tell you that's not how it turned out. So I think Kakashi tried to take Naruto in so his teacher's sacrifice would not be in vain."

"Anyway," Tsunade sighed bringing back the subject at hand. "As you can see there is no reason for you to resent Kakashi. The Third was the one who decided that Naruto would live alone." Sakura seemed about to interrupt again but the older woman cut her off. "The reasons why he made this decision don't even matter anymore so it should just be dropped."

Sakura pondered it all for a few moments. The two Sennin just gave her time to let all the information fully sink in. She stared back at them, and at those two shelves of paperwork. "Why did the Third change his mind?"

"Change his mind about what Sakura?"

She stepped back so she could see both their faces when she asked. "The Third wanted Kakashi-sensei to have no contact with Naruto but as soon as he became a genin he chose him as our sensei, Naruto was around him almost every day."

"Remember your genin exam," Jiraiya chose to answer. "Until that day Naruto had no clue that he had Kyuubi sealed inside of him, but one of your teachers became a traitor and told him." It wasn't the first time they'd told her this story but she felt dumb that she couldn't understand the significance of Mizuki's actions when it came to Kakashi. "As soon as Naruto became aware of the demon it seemed that the Third was in a rush to reverse the dynamic. He suddenly wanted Kakashi watching over Naruto in a way that only a Jounin-sensei can without being suspicious."

"Did the Third actually think that Naruto would never figure it out?" She started shaking her fist in anger, feeling very defensive of her friend. "Naruto may not be some genius but he is smart despite how he acts."

"The Third defiantly didn't think that." Tsunade bit her lip, she'd already made up her mind to involve Sakura but she was defiantly nervous about giving the girl all this information. "Who knows why Sarutobi-sensei did what he did. However I knew him well so I'm sure he had a good reason, I have to believe that."

"Can you just accept the past cannot be changed and stand by Naruto's side as his friend and teammate so he can move forward," Jiraiya asked her.

Sakura grunted, but held back the obscenities that came to mind. "Fine, I'll accept the past because there is obviously a lot I don't know." She turned to Jiraiya. "And Naruto and I will always be teammates. After all we still have to bring Sasuke-kun home…even if we have to break him to do it." She punched her fist into her palm to make her point.

She stared as Jiraiya began chuckling to himself. "Okay Tsunade, she passes as far as I'm concerned."

"What," Sakura hissed. Had the two of them been gauging her this entire time? She felt like breaking him at that moment, she didn't care he was a Sennin.

"Calm down Sakura," Tsunade walked up and put her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "He just means that you've earned his trust, I was already certain that I could trust you."

"What's going on?" Sakura broke away, stepping back.

"You haven't complained about the mission yet Sakura," Tsunade said knowingly.

"I haven't what?"

"I didn't tell you that you would be meeting Naruto on your mission. I was expecting you to be angry with me by the time you returned." She rubbed her nose as she had a thought. "I guess finding out about Kakashi occupied your mind a bit more."

Suddenly Sakura did feel a bit of anger return, unconsciously some chakra collected in her fists. "Thanks for reminding me," she hissed.

"We wanted to see how the two of you would react to seeing each other. If I'd given you the time to think about what to say you're emotions would not have been true." Tsunade walked up to Sakura, closing the distance once again. "You always said that Naruto was like an annoying little brother." She shifted her eyes to her teammate. "Jiraiya, tell her what Naruto said about her."

Jiraiya chuckled again remembering the various conversations where he'd teased Naruto about the girls back in Konoha. "He basically said the same thing about you. Except for him it seemed that his feelings evolved over time. He had a crush on you at first because he liked the way you looked," he smirked to the displeasure of both women. "Then as he got to know you it seems your role changed for him. He was confused by it for a long time since he'd never had a real family. Somewhere along the way he chose you as a sister figure, and if you ask me, he wanted a sister more then girlfriend. You're probably just as important to him as the Uchiha brat, maybe even more important in many ways."

"Naruto," Sakura whispered to herself.

"It seems Naruto still feels that way. He trusted you enough to actually admit he was adopted," Tsunade shook her head, "that was more then I expected." She put her hand on Sakura's shoulder once again. "Jiraiya and I have decided to give the two of you a very important mission. You'll begin preparing now, and you'll help Naruto once he returns to the village."

"What's the mission," Sakura asked quietly.

"First you have to listen to a story." Sakura turned and glared at Jiraiya, she was getting tired of the mind games the two of them were playing with her. "Throughout history there have been stories where spirits have appeared and killed even the strongest of ninjas by simply touching them."

"What," Sakura was starting to get really angry

Jiraiya ignored her attitude and continued talking. "In many of these legends it's said that a person's chakra will erupt from within their own body, sound familiar?"

"It sounds like the Hyuuga kids and Chouji." Sakura suddenly realized that they were bringing up the cases she'd been studying before she left, but she didn't see how bringing up folklore was relevant. "You're not about to tell me an ancient Japanese legend attacked them are you."

"We call them phantoms," Tsunade monotoned, "because I refuse to believe in 'spirits' or 'ghosts'. They're just bodiless things that cause chaos wherever they appear."

"Wait," Sakura shook her head in disbelief. "You've known what killed Shino, Chouji, and Hyuuga Hatori all this time and you've been keeping it secret. What about their families?"

"Only very select ninja are allowed to know about phantoms," Jiraiya said seriously. "To avoid a panic they are and S-Class secret, ever since the battle where they appeared."

"It was about thirty years ago." Sakura turned her attention back to Tsunade. "Around that time Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and I were all young Jounins fighting in the war. One day there was a particularly fierce battle just outside the village. At one point ghostlike creatures appeared all over the battlefield and started ripping apart both Konoha and enemy ninja. None of them came after me but I saw the carnage that unfolded." She took a deep breath, willing the unbelievable memory to return to her. "It finally ended when a housewife ran past me and cast some sort of technique that caused those things to disappear again."

"A housewife?"

"Yes Sakura, Jiraiya and I knew her husband. He was a Jounin as well, he always told us she an ordinary woman. When I saw her cast a technique," she shook her head, "the likes of which I'd never seen before, I knew she was much more then ordinary." She looked up, she didn't plan on telling Sakura all the details and the girl would see that if she looked her in the eye. "I brought her to Sarutobi-sensei right away and she confessed that she was a spy."

"She was spying on our village but helped us," Sakura found all of this a bit hard to believe.

"She claimed that her mission would not bring any harm to the village, that she was only gathering information." Tsunade hoped that Sakura would not try to argue with her right now, it was hard enough just to explain the story without saying too much. "She did help us a little bit before leaving the village the next day." Tsunade noticed Sakura's eyes twitching, the girl was becoming suspicious of something. "Shortly before this happened there were many attacks similar to what we've seen these last few months. She explained those attacks were because of phantoms as well. When phantoms appear they start with small prey and work their way up as they get stronger and stronger. They remain invisible for a long time, but according to her they are the most dangerous when they can be seen by the naked eye."

"Why would they be more dangerous," Sakura reasoned. "You can fight what you can see."

"Not when it's something that can touch you but you can't touch back." Jiraiya spoke out "You can try to push them away but it would be like striking thin air." The dim light made it hard to tell but Sakura could swear she saw him shudder. "These things steal more then life, they'll steal you completely."

"What do you mean by that," Sakura questioned.

"I think they enter our world from somewhere else when we become able to see them. Because it was only at that point that they were able to take us back with them."

"What do you mean," Sakura now felt a bit alarmed.

"I've seen it too," Tsunade added. "The phantom will sometimes completely engulf a person, then when they disappear again the person is also gone."

"To this day nobody has ever returned and no bodies have ever been recovered."

Sakura just stared back and forth between the two of them for some sign of sarcasm but she saw none there. She just didn't see how this was possible. "This is a ghost story," she said to make them understand her feelings.

"I told you I don't believe they're spirits of any kind. I theorize that they are just the product of some type of clone technique," Tsunade mused. "Our helpful spy gave us only one method to fight them." She finally looked Sakura in the eye again. "She said that we should bring the man who had the demon Shukaku sealed within him to our village. She said that it takes a special type of power to repel a phantom and demonic chakra possesses that power."

"You want Naruto to fight them," Sakura suddenly realized becoming angry. "You're going to ask him to use Kyuubi's power on purpose aren't you?"

"Yes," Tsunade answered simply.

"Why would you do that? You'll make all the villagers think they're right about him."

Tsunade held up her hand to silence her. "Sakura, this has to stop before more lives are lost. Besides, I plan to keep this as secret as I possibly can."

"This whole test you pulled to see if Naruto still trusted me," Sakura would have yelled if not for the fear that someone would overhear them talking about Naruto. "You did it because you want to use me to influence Naruto."

"I won't lie and say no, but I'm sure that both of you will accept this mission considering the importance." Tsunade waited and watched as Sakura had an inner conversation with herself.

"Did it work when you brought the host of Shukaku to the village?"

"Yes," Tsunade remained unemotional. She couldn't allow her true feelings to be seen now.

"I guess we can't ask the Kazekage to drop everything he's doing for us huh?" Tsunade flinched, she had no idea that Sakura knew about Gaara. "Well I suppose if Naruto agrees to this mission then I will help in any way I can."

"Good," Tsunade felt immense relief. "Because you'll be teaching Naruto how to use medical techniques."

"What," she nearly shouted. "Why?"

"Follow me and I'll show you," she turned to the back hallway and beckoned to both of them. "There is a secret beneath this tower that you have to see."

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Konohamaru rubbed his sore cheek as he wandered over to a corner of the academy building. His friends had convinced him to come play some games in the lot behind the school but as usual he'd gotten into a fight because others called Naruto names. He couldn't stand it when people called him a demon, their teachers had explained to them that a seal does not change a person but the other kids just didn't care. His father told him that they were probably just imitating their parents who just had blind hatred. He said the best thing to do was tell them they were wrong but avoid a fight. Of course this was not in Konohamaru's nature and he usually ended up in a push and pull.

"Konohamaru, you should just ignore it."

"I can't Iruka-sensei," the boy yelled at his teacher who had appeared out of nowhere. "Naruto was always my friend and what people say is wrong."

"Well Naruto wouldn't want you getting into fights with the other kids." The boy just kept scowling and Iruka realized he'd have to use more reason. "Look Konohamaru, you're only giving them what they want when you fight. That's why they call Naruto names whenever you play with them. And if you keep this up they won't have a chance to change their minds about Naruto."

"I'll make them change their minds, I'll beat it into them."

Iruka sighed and wondered what he could possible say that would convince him to stop bringing attention to Naruto when he heard panicked yells coming from the other children. It was after school hours so he was fairly sure he was the only adult around. He dropped the tests that he'd brought from inside and rushed over to them.

"Hey you kids, what's going on over here?" He looked around, they had all run toward the building. He thought that was strange, had they run away from something. One little girl finally walked up to him.

"Iruka-sensei," she cried. "A ghost chased Kouji-kun into the bushes."

"A ghost," Iruka said in irritation. The children, seeing the disbelief on their teacher's face all began yelling at the same time.

"Yeah it was white and you could see through it…..No it was blue and had red eyes….It was scary it didn't have any eyes….It had a million hands….No it had lots of arms with no hands."

"OKAY," he yelled. "So where did Kouji-kun and this ghost go?"

"Over there," the same girl pointed to the bushes across the lot fearfully.

The children watched as Iruka walked into the bushes, calling the boy's name. After a minute or so he walked back out fiddling with something he'd pulled out of his Chuunin vest. They became scared, their teacher's face had turned white.

"I want all of you to go to my classroom right away," Iruka ordered.

"Where's Kouji-kun," a boy asked.

"Go to my classroom right now," he demanded. "Konohamaru," he pointed to the boy. "You're the oldest so you're in charge, take them all inside and stay there until I come and get all of you."

"Yes Iruka-sensei." He said this a bit shakily and he began ushering some of the younger children toward the doors.

As soon as Iruka was sure they were gone he wiped blood over the scroll in his hand and threw it into the air. Light erupted about twenty feet above and the Chuunin began pacing. Though it was probably a matter of seconds if felt like eternity passed before two ANBU arrived.

"Iruka-san," a woman called, removing her mask to talk to him. "What's happened, why did you send up a signal?"

"I think a student's been killed." He replied hoarsely. "I sent the rest of the children back into the building."

The two ANBU looked at each other confused but Iruka was already gesturing for them to follow.

"Iruka-san, did you confirm the child is dead? If it's merely an injury we should hurry to the hospital."

"Just look," he stopped and pointed to a spot deep in the overgrowth.

The two elite ninja stepped around him to see what he was indicating and both recoiled back at the sight. The rocky ground was saturated with blood, and if had come from a single child there was no doubt the boy must be dead. What horrified them the most was part of an arm that lay at the edge of the red stain. It hadn't been ripped from the joint, rather it seemed to have been jaggedly cut between the elbow and shoulder. That would have taken far more effort then ripping it out of the socket.

The woman tore her eyes from the sight to the academy teacher's ashen face. "Iruka-san, what in god's name happened here?"

"I really have no idea."

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Sakura stared around in wonder. This seemed like a secret fortress hidden below the sewers of the Hokage tower. Different from the prison where criminals were locked away this seemed to be a place of protection. If the frightened people she'd encountered so far were any indication, this was a place to keep the outside world away.

The area she was in right now seemed to be some sort of lab. People lay everywhere on tables with charts dangling off the sides. There didn't seem to be any effort to help or heal them, they were only being observed. It made her think that some of them were dead and these were only preserved bodies.

Tsunade and Jiraiya had told her to stay put when a man called out to them to come see to a patient. She was sure that looking at any of these charts would land her into a world of trouble but that didn't stop her from trying to catch a glimpse at the equipment and guess what it was analyzing.

She kept her feet planted where the Sennin had left her but her eyes wandered from person to person. As she tried to distinguish the living from the not she found herself wondering what circumstances had landed them in such a place. She guessed that many of them were phantom victims from the injuries. She wondered why some were put in this secret lab while others were back in the hospital morgue. Finally her eyes fell onto a boy who seemed out of place. Something about him drew her and she walked over to the table where he lay.

As his features became clear she was struck by the state of the boy's body. It seemed he'd been crushed by something, and the socket of the left eye was sown up, he'd probably lost that too. Sakura thought he could have been Naruto's little brother except for the black hair.

"Uchiha Obito," she whispered the name she saw on his arm bracelet. Sakura had the oddest feeling, like she'd just stumbled onto a piece of a great mystery, she just didn't understand the significance. "Whatever happened to you I'm sorry, it looks like you suffered." She saw his good arm was turned palm up, it didn't look comfortable so she turned it over so his hand would lay palm down. His flesh was cold and dead, she'd almost hoped that he wouldn't be.

Footsteps were coming her way and she rushed back to where she stood before. Jiraiya opened the door a few seconds later and beckoned her to follow. She sighed in relief when he didn't seem suspicious of anything.

"Follow me Sakura," the girl's attention was drawn again when she heard her teacher's voice. Jiraiya had wandered away with someone else. They walked deeper into this secret place and Sakura began to experience familiar sounds and smells.

"Is this part the hospital?"

"Yes, the most critical patients are here. The people who have survived phantom attacks when they should have died, we keep them here."

"What do you mean?"

"The people in this room were all attacked by phantoms. They should be dead but somehow they survived." Tsunade put her hand on the door handle, she always had to brace herself before she went inside even after all this time. "You'll see, this is why I want Naruto to learn medical techniques. Demonic chakra can do more then push a phantom away it can also repair the damage it left behind."

Ten minutes after leaving Obito's side Sakura burst back into the lab and let out a small scream. What she'd just seen had horrified her, she sat herself down on a chair and covered her eyes while she calmed herself back down.

She was too distracted to notice that Obito's hand had twisted itself back to its original position. If she hadn't covered her eyes she might have seen that the fingers of that same hand suddenly twitched.

To be continued:

Thanks for reading, please leave a review and tell me what you think.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Naruto.

Author's note: Well I know it's been awhile. I had to think about how I wanted to proceed with this thing and I'm happy with the results. As always please leave a review to tell me what you think so far, I always appreciate it.

Oh and in response to many of the reviews for last chapter Obito is dead, it was only his body that Sakura came across. The body did move though and I put that there on purpose, eventually it will make sense why.

Previously: Sakura learns the truth behind the attacks that she has been studying for the past few months. They are the result of ghostlike things that appear and cause massive damage to people who possess chakra. They are called phantoms by a woman who was spying on Konoha just before she left, she does not explain what phantoms actually are. Tsunade takes Sakura to a secret facility below the Hokage tower where a group of people who 'should have died' from phantom attacks are hidden. For some reason Uchiha Obito's body is hidden in this same facility…..In the meantime Naruto and Hinata have been with Kakashi at his old teammate's house for the past month.

Phantoms

Chapter 9

Naruto panted heavily as he willed more of the burning demonic chakra to come to his fists. It hurt, it hurt on a physical and spiritual level that he couldn't describe to anyone. Kyuubi was thrilled that his power was touching the open air again. Naruto could practically feel the fox clawing at the back of the seal, willing a weak spot to form so he could finally rip his human prison apart.

Naruto pushed these feelings aside as he barely countered the next barrage of attacks. He focused on the bandaged fists that came at him over and over again. Every time he saw the black and white rush at him he used a bit of red chakra to push them away. He could mold it outward of his body at will now, often using a chakra hand rather then his own since they hurt so badly. All the while he tried to maintain balance, using enough of his power to defend himself while keeping Kyuubi's will from taking over.

A bandaged hand hit him above his heart, Naruto tried to compensate but felt his world turn hellish red then to black.

"Ow," Naruto moaned when he felt his world finally return to him. He opened his eyes to see the sky was growing dim, it had been a little after noon when he'd fallen so that meant several hours had passed. "Dammit, I lost control again."

"Kakashi-sensei says you need to rest for at least a day."

Naruto shifted his eyes toward the whisper he knew to be Hinata's voice. She was fumbling with her pack, trying to hide the fact that she hadn't put Jiraiya's bandages away yet. He always pretended not to notice, it hurt but he couldn't blame her. While they traveled Jiraiya started weaving seals into bandages that could seal out Kyuubi's chakra, and then he wound them around himself when they trained to minimize the damage the fox's power caused. Naruto practically had a nervous breakdown when Kakashi produced several sets of those bandages and explained that Hinata would wear them while they helped him learn to control the demonic chakra. He was terrified of hurting her, she was a chuunin, not a Sennin like Jiraiya and he'd left the older man with permanent scars.

Every day he'd search her for some sort of horrible injury but she never developed anything worse then the normal wear and tear of intense training. Her eyes defiantly made her keen to the approaching danger whenever control was slipping and she knew when Kyuubi was trying to seep out, so she was actually the ideal partner for this type of training. Kakashi had run them through hundreds of exercises during her month with them. She used her Byakugan to see the way Kyuubi's chakra flowed through him, and by doing so she was able to help him recognize how to use the demon's power for skill rather then brute force.

He would have rather gone the rest of his life trying to hold Kyuubi back then learn to manipulate the beast's power, even if it was satisfying to piss the monster off. The best explanation that Kakashi could give was that it was the Hokage's orders.

"Naruto?"

Said boy broke out of his thoughts to look at the concerned girl that was kneeling beside him, a flask of water she'd made for him in her hands. He sat up, groaning at the soreness of his body and accepted the water with a grateful nod. He gulped it down quickly, glad that she'd thought to bring it since his body now needed it so badly. She always put something in the water that made it better. He'd asked her about it once and she'd stuttered and mumbled something about how her family would mix crushed herbs into their drink because it was healthier. He'd laughed and told her that he simply meant that he thought it tasted better then plain water.

"Thanks Hinata," he finally voiced once he'd consumed the last drop.

"Are you feeling alright now?"

"Yeah, so where's Kakashi-sensei anyway," he asked finally noticing the absence of the man.

"He said that he has to receive a message from Tsunade-sama." She suddenly became interested in her backpack again. Naruto had learned some of her patterns since she came so he knew that fumbling with things was a sign that she was leaving out part of a story. "He said that he'll probably be back before dawn."

"News from the old lady…I can't wait."

Hinata bit her lip at hearing the irritation in his voice. She knew that he didn't like that he had to do this training but she was sure that the Hokage must have a good reason to order him to do it. Still she could understand his frustration, the demon was the very reason he was forced to flee the village and now she was ordering him to learn to use that hated power freely.

Naruto was in constant pain as well. He complained of every ache imaginable and no amount of medicine, salts, or hot baths could alleviate it. Even worse were the night terrors that everyone knew that he was suffering from. Hinata and Rin had started sleeping at the opposite side of her house since Naruto's sudden screams would bring on one of Rin's attacks.

The training itself was the worst. Hinata could see how the two powers tangled with each other inside his body. Kyuubi was certainly trying to sabotage Naruto's efforts, the red chakra would almost taunt him just before overwhelming Naruto's being. The boy would believe he was in control then without warning the seal would fail him. Hinata didn't know how he kept his sanity. Still she was happy that she was finally able to help him for once.

"We should go," Naruto grunted as he lifted himself up. No sooner was he on his feet that he began to topple backwards. Hinata reacted quickly and grabbed his shoulder to keep him upright.

This didn't help Naruto's mood at all, before Hinata could even offer he had his arm draped over her shoulder so she could help him walk back. Such a thing would have made her pass out of embarrassment weeks ago but now it was almost part of their routine. She gripped the dangling wrist and wrapped her other arm around his waist as she hoisted him up to support his weight.

"Thanks Hinata, you're a good friend."

"Of course Naruto," she smiled at him before looking down. Every day they had this exchange, and every day it felt like a missed opportunity.

----------------------------------------------------

"Today three more requests to leave the village were delivered this office Tsunade-sama."

"So what does that bring the tally to Shizune," the Hokage rubbed at her temples.

"That would be thirty two….that we know of." She paused to see if there would be a reaction, Tsunade just continued to make circles at the sides of her head. "Supposedly there are now 17 ninja's along with their families that have left without permission."

"Just say we have 17 missing nins Shizune," Tsunade snapped.

Shizune braced herself. "I think that may be a bit harsh. These people are scared for themselves and for their families, they didn't betray the village."

"They ran away when Konoha was crisis didn't they," Tsunade yelled back. "What kind of hidden village are we if we run from every threat we don't understand."

"But Tsunade-same," she pleaded. "We had to close down the academy, two children died there." Shizune threw her arms to her sides, not knowing how to make her point seem clearer. "We can't give our people any tools to protect themselves, why shouldn't they be frightened?"

Sakura bit her lip and kept her back turned. She was no good at hiding things from Shizune so showing her face would be a bad idea. She still wasn't used to the idea that she was involved in an S-class secret that her senior wasn't.

"I'm not saying that I would treat them like traitors," Tsunade calmed down a bit, "but their actions are still wrong."

"I don't know Tsunade-sama," Shizune shook her head.

"Just deal with the three from today Shizune." She waved her older apprentice towards the door. "Gaara should be coming by anytime now."

Once Shizune was gone and she was confident there were no prying ears Sakura turned to face her teacher. "Sometimes I feel like running away from this place."

"Not you too," Tsunade shot her an annoyed glance.

"It's going to get worse Tsunade-sama." Sakura sat herself down in the chair opposite her teacher. "This time there isn't a war going on. You can't pretend phantom victims were randomly attacked by the enemy."

"That becomes more obvious as the days go by. I just wish I knew what the hell they were."

"Maybe Chiyo-Baasama has the right idea," Sakura thought out loud. "They could be clones made of pure spirit energy. That would explain why they can reach inside us and why a Jinchuuriki's chakra can fight them off."

"It would also explain why we go so many years without seeing phantoms."

"Huh," Sakura didn't see where her teacher was going.

"You have to dedicate most of your resources to an element to make strong clones of that same element." She leaned back as she actually puzzled this out loud for the first time. "To make clones of pure spirit you would have to neglect and even sacrifice your own body. The person who casts this technique probably dies eventually and we are rid of phantoms until someone else picks up the legacy." She rose from her seat as she heard approaching footsteps. "Such a technique must take years to learn."

Without even a knock or an ANBU escort Gara made his way into the Hokage's office with a short elderly woman following close behind.

"How are you this afternoon Kazekage-san?"

"Well enough to continue our efforts I suppose."

"Gaara," the older woman huffed walking around him. "Speak formally to your fellow Kage, even if it is this woman."

"You're my favorite person in the world as well Chiyo-Baasama." Tsunade locked the doors to the office tight before leading them to the entrance to the Hokage library on the other side of the room. "Shall we?"

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"Naruto, I know you don't feel like it but please just eat a bit more." Naruto lifted his gaze from his plate to Rin. She was wearing that mothering expression that he never really knew how to handle. "You can sleep till noon for all I care just get some protein in that body of yours so you can recover." She turned and walked off.

This gave Naruto the opportunity to grumble without feeling guilty. It wasn't that Rin wasn't a good cook, rather his stomach seemed to have lost its need to be filled since this training had gotten intense. Just the sight of the mound of fish on his plate made him ill when it would have made him salivate not long ago.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright Naruto-kun?"

"Hinata, you can just call me Naruto," he stabbed at his meal.

"Sorry Naruto….I forgot for a moment that you preferred that."

Naruto cursed at himself mentally, what the hell did it matter how she said his name. "Sorry, I don't really care actually."

"Don't worry about it." She thought of offering to help hide some of the food but he'd barely eaten anything for lunch so his body really did need it. "Maybe if you just ate half Rin would be happy."

"She may not be able to do techniques anymore but she's still a medic-nin up here," he tapped just above his ear. "Trust me there's some sort of ratio of proteins, vitamins, oils, and god knows what else she put in this. Only the entire thing is going to please her." He shoved another bite into his mouth. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't so damn tired."

Hinata suddenly became very distracted by her cup, the one she'd already emptied. She struggled for something, anything to say to that. She hated that she could never think of the right thing in situations like this. She was the training partner, it was her job to look after him and keep him motivated during the hard times. Pointing out that his weariness was probably due to his own refusal to eat seemed like a stupid point to make.

"I know what you're thinking Hinata," she looked back up to see him smiling slightly. "Why doesn't he just shut up and eat."

"I wasn't thinking that," she replied.

"Then what're you thinking," he continued to stare at his food with a dreadful glare.

Hinata wondered if he actually wanted to know or if he said that for the sake of conversation. The two of them never really had the chance to talk alone. Kakashi rarely let Naruto out of his sight unless Naruto demanded to be left alone, and Kakashi didn't always grant the request. She was a bit surprised when the teacher told her he was leaving that afternoon. She'd been under the assumption that the copy ninja had some reason to be paranoid of losing sight of his blond student.

"I wonder what message Tsunade-sama is sending Kakashi-sensei," she said this in hopes of changing the subject.

"Nothing I wanna hear I can promise you."

Hinata bit the inside of her mouth anxiously, another difficult statement to counter. "She probably just wants you to know how to control Kyuubi's power for your own sake."

"For my own sake," he said in an unbelieving tone. "What good does this do me?"

"Well," she silently cursed Kakashi's absence. "I suppose it would be useful in case you ever had to fight someone else who had a demon sealed inside of them."

Naruto thought about saying 'too late for that' but decided that would only bring up questions.

"I think the most important reason is probably because she wants to make sure you have control."

"Control," Naruto spat the word out. He shoveled more unwanted food into his mouth emphasizing to the girl that he was thinking angry thoughts. "I may be a ninja, so I allow myself to be used as a human weapon but I'm not a god dammed animal. I don't need to be tamed, I don't want to be watched all the time by adults who think I shouldn't know what I am."

Hinata flinched and Naruto instantly regretted saying so much. She was just trying to help, he shouldn't burden her with his problems.

"Kyuubi's the animal that needs to be tamed," Hinata whispered.

"What," Naruto snapped his eyes to her in shock. She instantly bowed her head and scolded herself inside for saying the wrong thing.

"I mean that Kyuubi is the one that needs to be controlled….not you. You're the one that has to control him….everyone is just trying to help you." She chanced a glance back up to see what his reaction was. To her surprise his expression was soft instead of angry. "And the adults…The adults that are watching over you are just concerned," she reasoned. "Tsunade-sama must have ordered Kakashi to bring you here because she didn't want to see you hurt. Jiraiya-sama set aside three years to make you into a strong ninja. And Kakashi-sensei doesn't look down on you."

"What do you mean he doesn't look down on me," the statement about Kakashi did throw him a bit.

"I think he hates this training as much as you, but he's really proud of you. Even today when you did lose control he said it was amazing that you held onto that much power for so long without losing to Kyuubi's will."

"I'm just Sasuke's replacement," he sighed. Though he never doubted the copy-nin was actually dedicated to him he felt very sure that he would still be the second choice student if the Uchiha boy was still around. "He doesn't have his prodigy around anymore."

"I don't think you're a replacement."

"You weren't part of team 7, you don't know how much time he spent training him. Sakura and I were practically afterthoughts."

Hinata stared at him for a moment, wondering how he didn't see what others did. "Back then Sakura didn't really have any direction, you were trying to prove that you were worthy to be a ninja for Konoha, but Sasuke was unstable."

Naruto was surprised to hear someone give an analysis of team 7 that didn't paint Sasuke in the shade of a victim.

"I think that Kakashi-sensei and the Third could see that Sasuke could turn but that you and Sakura were loyal. Sasuke was probably watched so closely because they wanted to stop him from becoming like his brother." She paused when she could see that Naruto had never looked at the dynamic this way before. He was staring at empty space on the opposite wall. Hinata could almost sense the memories rolling through his head, pieces of the past now taking new meaning. "So I think that Kakashi-sensei actually had more faith in you."

"Hmmm, maybe," he choked down another bite of his meal as he thought about what she was saying. "You sound like you've actually thought about this before."

"Well," she rubbed her fingers against the edge of the table, trying to think of something that wouldn't make her sound odd. "Everyone talked about team 7 you know."

"Yeah," he sighed, "the only genin cell in our class to get disbanded."

"No," she shook her head at him. "I mean since the beginning people talked about your team."

"What do you mean?"

"Team 7 just seemed so random," she thought about how she could go about explaining. "Usually when a team is assembled they serve a certain purpose."

"Purpose, like what?" Naruto yawned, weariness was taking over him but he wanted to hear what her point was.

"Well, my team's specialty was tracking. With Shino's bugs, Kiba's control over dogs, and my eyesight we could track down almost anyone." He seemed to following a little bit so she decided on one more example. "Team 10 was better for reconnaissance."

"I see, so my team…"

"No one really saw what team 7's purpose was," she finished his thought.

He took a drink as he thought about this. Team 7 never did have anything that defined them in their working days. "Maybe we were just the leftovers when the Hokage was picking teams."

"Three leftovers wouldn't all become Sennin apprentices, the Third knew what he was doing when he picked the three of you." Naruto stared at her, she wasn't used his undivided attention it was starting to make her feel anxious and she found it hard to keep eye contact with him. "The three of you would make more sense now, so maybe the Third just anticipated who you would grow up to be."

"Why do you think we make sense as a team now?"

"Well…um…um.." She regressed back to stuttering being put on the spot like that. "You and Sasuke are both incredibly strong offensive types. Sasuke's bloodline makes him better for attacking technique driven or illusionary enemies. You on the other hand can overcome those who rely on weapons or strength with your endless chakra reserves and your quick ability to heal. So depending on the situation either you or Sasuke could take the lead offense and Sakura being a balancing factor would support the other. Then of course if either of you fell she's capable of defending and healing the fallen person."

"You know what," he pictured some scenarios. "I can see your point. No wonder Kakashi-sensei gave us so many lectures about teamwork." He caught her eyes and she quickly looked away and started rolling her empty cup around in her hands. She was fumbling with things again so he knew there was something else that she wasn't saying. Usually he didn't push the overly nervous girl on anything but somehow they'd touched on a subject where he didn't want to leave any gaps. "Tell me more Hinata."

"Well," she hesitated. "I've only come to realize lately that you and Sasuke are perfect complementing as well as opposing forces."

"Huh," Naruto squinted.

Hinata stilled her hands, she knew she couldn't deny him if he truly wanted to know what she thought. "Usually genin aren't taught assassination techniques. The normal thing to do is to wait for a ninja to gain experience with many smaller techniques so they have the maturity to handle it." She met his gaze again, he still looked perplexed. "The two of you were twelve when Rasengon and Chidori were taught to you."

"So Kakashi and the pervert taught us their flashy techniques, so what?"

"Kakashi-sensei has mentioned some things, usually when we were waiting for you to come back after losing control." Naruto flinched, he didn't like the thought of Kakashi talking about him when he was lying unconscious a few feet away. "He's said that Rasengon is the perfect technique for you and that Chidori is perfect for Sasuke. Each matches your personalities and fighting styles, and can be altered as the two of you develop."

"Well there you go," Naruto reasoned, "that's why they taught us early."

"He also said that Rasengon is a technique that Sasuke's eyes could never copy and that Chidori is something that can cut through Kyuubi's defenses."

"So what's your point Hinata?"

"You and Sasuke are perfect complements as a team, no matter what type of opponent the two of you would be a threat. Then to each other," she hesitated. "To each other you would be perfect assassins." She didn't dare to look at him when she said this. "Each of you possesses a killing move that the other can't mimic nor defend against except with your own attack." Naruto's eyes widened as he listened to her talk. "Because you were so hated by the villagers and because Sasuke desires revenge so badly…the two of you were both threats to become traitors."

Naruto had never told anyone, not even the Hokage about what really happened in the Valley of the End. Kakashi had figured out from the rips in his clothing that Sasuke had used Chidori on him, and had actually impaled him. He knew because Kakashi had visited him in the hospital and told him so, however as far as Naruto was concerned only he and Sasuke knew of the two stalemates when Rasengon and Chidori collided. It was disturbing to listen to Hinata assert that their teachers might have anticipated the confrontation and that they had actually been groomed toward killing each other to wipe out the one who would become a threat.

"Stick the Uchiha and the fox kid together and they'll cut through anybody, including each other if they get out of hand." Hinata bit the inside of her mouth, she didn't know what to think of the expression on his face. He almost seemed happy, the opposite of what she would expect. "You're probably right you know."

"Are you mad at me?"

"Mad about what," he asked changing his expression to the perplexed look she was uses to.

"Mad that I…that I.." she stopped when she couldn't come up with a reason herself.

"I'm not mad that you figured it out before me." He yawned again as he reached for the water pitcher. "Sometimes you can't see things like that when you're in the middle of it. That's why you need comrades to show you what you can't see." He frowned as he realized there was no more drink in the pitcher. "Even if it's difficult to accept the truth you still need to see it."

Hinata just stared at him for a moment. When she first arrived and saw how quiet he'd become it broke her heart. She thought that having his secret exposed had cast him into some sort of depression and certainly it had but the change had far more to do with maturity. Somewhere along the way he'd learned that he didn't need to scream for people to notice he was there. Yet he hadn't lost his personality, he could calmly accept that he might have to fight a friend to the point of death but an empty water pitcher was something mope and whine about.

"Would you like me to get some more water for you?"

"You don't mind," he instantly brightened.

"Well, I'm in the way," she indicated with her hand that he would technically have to climb over either the table or herself. This seemed to amuse him as he handed her his own cup.

She gathered the cups, pitcher, and her own plate since she was going to the sink anyway. As she turned her back to the door to push it open she spied Naruto taking another deep yawn. She smiled to herself thinking she might have done a good thing having that talk with him. She thought she may have made something clear for him.

"Don't ever tell Kakashi about that conversation Hinata."

"Rin you scared me," she breathed a sigh of relief that it was only the frail woman in the near dark. She was sitting on a stool next to the door, so she had most likely listened to their entire talk.

"You'd be walking on thin ice to bring up Rasengon and Chidori with him." The younger girl slowly started the slow flowing faucet over the pitcher as she waited for an explanation.

"Really, why is that?"

"I could have killed Kakashi, he was just so stupid."

"What?"

"Kakashi brought him here you know." Rin turned her gaze from Hinata to the floor and leaned herself over her knees. "One day I come inside to see Sasuke hissing over the pain in his right arm and I knew that Kakashi had taught him that damn Chidori." Hinata saw Rin's hands start to twitch. It didn't mean that an attack was coming, just that she was undeniably angry. "Sasuke was a twelve year old boy whose great ambition in life was murder. It's insanity to teach someone like him such a powerful killing strike at that age."

"You thought that even then Rin?"

"Kakashi used the match with Gaara as an excuse, saying that it was the best offense." She shook her head. "I kept trying to get him to think about what that boy would do with a technique like that once the exam was over. He's preparing himself to kill off his own brother, with the rest of his family dead who would he practice on except his own teammates."

"What did Kakashi-sensei say?"

"He said it would never happen but Kakashi wrote me a few months later to tell me that Sasuke had used Chidori on Naruto without hesitation." Hinata gasped at this. "In the same letter he told me that Jiraiya had stolen Naruto from him as a student, even teaching Naruto Rasengon balancing the two of them out."

"Well its good that Jiraiya-sama stepped in then, Naruto might have been hurt otherwise."

"Naruto turned Rasengon on Sasuke as well." Rin gave the girl a sideways glance knowing she'd probably try to justify the blond. "In the end Kakashi broke the two of them up." Rin sighed as she stood up. "Kakashi very much regrets teaching Chidori to Sasuke. Sasuke reminded Kakashi so much of himself that he was sure that the kid would see the errors of his thinking." She walked to the sink turning off the water that Hinata had forgotten. "I think that Kakashi forgot how stubborn he used to be."

"Kakashi-sensei was once like Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Very much so."

Hinata couldn't imagine it. "So what made him change?"

"First it was our teammate's words." She handed Hinata a clean cup from the cupboard, the girl could sense that a deep sadness had somehow fallen over the room. "Then our teammate died."

Hinata's felt small stabs of pain everywhere. She understood and took part in this sadness now as memories of Shino came to mind. Throwing herself into Naruto's training had helped her with the grief but it was still fresh and it still hurt.

"I really hope that nobody has to die for Sasuke to change, but I fear it might be too late."

Hinata thought about all that was said for a second before shaking it all off and smiling. "Naruto has a way of changing people around him. Since he's so persistent it will work on Sasuke too."

"Hopefully you're right," Rin called after her as she took the water and went back to the other room.

"Sorry Naruto, Rin and I started talking but…." Hinata halted, pitcher in one hand, cup in the other just staring at the scene before her.

Some muffled laughter to her right broke Hinata from her trance as Rin walked past her. "Oh my god Hinata." The older woman had to keep her hand inches from her mouth to remind it to stay at a whisper. "This makes my whole day."

The two women softly crept up to the table where Naruto had apparently fallen asleep while resting his head in his hand. He was starting to sway, he'd smack his head against the table any second. Rin pushed the still half eaten plate of food out of the way and guided him to a more stable sleeping position.

"Let's just leave him Hinata if he's actually this tired."

Still a bit amused by the sight Hinata set her items down on the table in case he still wanted them when woke up.

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Sakura held her breath as she watched the body squirm under Gaara's hands. A few bits of sand flew about but for the most part he had isolated Shukaku's power so that only the chakra was flowing into the broken tissue. It seemed unnatural to watch, it defied everything she knew as a medic nin to see dead cells come back to life because of a Jinchuuriki's power.

"He's bleeding," Gaara said unemotionally as he withdrew his hands.

Snapping to attention Sakura assumed her role. It would be a very long process to heal these phantom victims. The people in this room were so severely injured that the Hokages' falsified their deaths to keep them here in secret. In many cases their own families didn't even know they were still alive. Their condition was impossible to explain anyway. The boy in front of her was actually broken into pieces, he had been ripped apart by the phantom literally. His upper and lower body separated near where his navel should have been and three of his four limbs in were found many feet away from the rest of him. He was brought to the hospital alive but with such damage the medic nins did little more then give him a quiet corner to die in while they concentrated on the other people who had been hurt. Several hours later they realized that he was still there, just as broken and in more pain then before because he had spent hours wondering why nobody had tried to help him.

"It'll be okay," she whispered to her patient as she alleviated a bit of the pain left by Gaara's work. The method that they were experimenting with entailed a Jinchuuriki healing the dead flesh that was at the edges of the phantom wounds, however this would poison the healthy flesh and a medic would have to immediately follow to repair that damage.

Sakura found herself toying with the idea that phantoms may actually be something supernatural, not a clever technique like her teacher was so adamant to prove. It wasn't possible for people to fall into a near death state like this. The edges of the wounds were dead but the bodies seemed to freeze at a point just before they should expire, they were literally trapped in the point just before death. Healing the damage seemed to force time to move for them again and they would bleed.

"I think that's enough for today Gaara," Tsunade patted the young man's shoulder. "If we push him any further we may only cause more damage."

"I agree Hokage-sama," Sakura didn't miss the sound of relief in his voice. Even though he still seemed like a cold person to her he was deeply affected by this, she could tell he made an attempt to do his part while minimizing the pain that his chakra caused these people.

"Sakura come meet us back in my office when you're finished."

"Yes Tsunade-sama," she called after them as they were already walking away. The boy she was healing suddenly began making grunting noises. At first she worried that she'd missed something but then realized he was only trying to get her attention. His higher functions were still too damaged for him to do things like speak or hear but he never lost his sight and used those eyes to try to communicate with the people around him. "Don't worry I'm not leaving yet," she said while looking at him again. She watched his eyes soften as he calmed down again. Sakura wished mightily that there was more that she could do for him. Becoming whole again was going to be a long and painful process, she knew that the most important role that she and Naruto could play for him was not closing his wounds but acknowledging that he was still here.

"Just hold on okay, I don't want to go to your funeral again Chouji."

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Naruto suddenly snapped awake. He felt his body shaking but he couldn't recall any dream and he was usually able to remember his night terrors. The last thing he did remember was talking with Hinata about team 7 in the kitchen, where he came to realize he still was. His foggy mind began to piece together that he must have fallen asleep at the table and he'd get a lecture about it in the morning.

"Dammit," he whispered to himself in the dark. He heard a noise come from somewhere but his senses had become so unreliable because of his training that he couldn't tell where it was coming from, he figured it was just Kakashi coming back.

Naruto rubbed his eyes and debated going to his bed or laying his head down where he was again when he heard footsteps. His eyes snapped as he listened for the tell tale signs that would distinguish it as Rin's, Hinata's, or Kakashi's but they were too heavy. Yet for some reason Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that it was somebody he knew. The door that led to where Rin and Hinata slept opened and a figure began walking across the floor, just as he was crossing his path Naruto reached up and flipped on the light. The intruder stopped cold in his tracks and twisted to face Naruto.

The two of them were locked into each other's surprise for a few moments before a desperate moaning sound broke Naruto's fascination. There in his arms was Hinata. Her body was twitching and her eyes had become glossed over, a small trail of blood leaking ominously somewhere from her head.

"What did you do to her," Naruto asked desperately as he forced his stiff body to rise. "Sasuke, what did you do?"

"You weren't supposed to be in this room," the darker boy whispered more to himself then to Naruto.

Before Naruto could even come up with another question Sasuke snapped out of his docile state and kicked over the table. Naruto was thrown back and struggled to get the heavy wooded thing off of him. He just managed to kick it away when he saw his old teammate grip the girl closer to his body and make a run for the door.

"SASUKE!"

To be continued:

Thank you for reading, please leave a review and tell me what you think. Till next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own no part of Naruto.

Author's note: Well some people are probably saying "about time" right about now…And other are saying "who are you again"….yes I realize that it's been three months. Here's the reason it was so late. I actually did have a completed version of chapter 10 done back in December. But at the time ff.n's author and story alerts weren't working so I decided to wait until they fixed it. So I thought well…I might as well catch up on that anime that gave me the idea for Phantoms in the first place…you have three seconds to guess what it was…..okay then 100 episodes of Bleach later I went back to the chapter and decided I didn't like it. I really thought about the plot and realized with the way I had this story plotted out that this confrontation in chapter 10 basically replays further down the story just with a different ending…So I decided to basically cut about half the story out and just cut to the chase. Naturally this took awhile to work out but I'm confident now that I've written a chapter 10 that doesn't give away too much too early and actually fits where last chapter left off.

Other news, I've decided that soon I'm going to go back and rewrite scenes in older chapters so they aren't so…well kid friendly…then I'll put them up on my site at deviantart. So if anybody reading this likes to draw and would like something posted there just email me.

Final thought for today. I don't normally come out and say 'people please review my story and inflate my ego' but seriously guys it would really help me out psychologically after working on one chapter for three months. Even if it's a 'don't take three months next time' at least I can say to myself that somebody cared.

Last time: It turns out that Naruto and Sakura have to prepare for a mission to heal survivors of phantom attacks, and eventually Naruto may have to fight them. Naruto remains unaware of this plan and simply follows orders from the Hokage to train with Kyuubi's chakra with the help Hinata under Kakashi's supervision. The Jounin leaves the two of them with Rin to receive a message from the village when Sasuke breaks into the house during the night to kidnap Hinata. In earlier chapters Sasuke had problems with his heart, causing him a lot of pain.

Phantoms

Chapter 10

Naruto screamed the name of his old teammate as he watched Sasuke turn his back to escape with Hinata's limp body secured in his arms.

"BASTARD," Naruto yelled after the split second of disbelief passed. He didn't have time to think about what was happening. Despite his body's resistance Naruto got to his feet and began running. Just outside that door were a thousand opportunities to vanish. He knew if he allowed Sasuke to disappear from his line of vision that he probably wouldn't be able to find traces of him until morning.

Naruto's senses were dull because of the training he'd endured for the past month so to have a chance against Sasuke he took a big risk and pulled some fire from the seal.

He rounded the house and caught a glimmer of moonlight as it reflected in the black locks of the clan children As he chased them he thought for a moment that it was ironic that the stronger the bloodline the darker the hair was. Naruto shook this thought away knowing full well that it was Kyuubi's curiosity and not his own and it was a very bad sign when he became aware of the fox's thoughts.

He saw Sasuke tense and glance backward, so the older boy knew he hadn't slipped away when he'd chosen to run for the cliff. Sasuke did not turn to face his pursuer. Instead he forced more chakra to his feet and tried to outrun him.

This straightaway sprint did not require much thought on Naruto's part. His mind finally had a chance to analyze the situation. This abduction had obviously been calculated. Sasuke came on the one night that Kakashi would be gone and he must have known that the training had broken down his basic sense of danger otherwise he wouldn't have been ignored. Sasuke must have planned to enter the girl's room and subdue Hinata in her sleep, and Rin wouldn't be any threat with her condition. If Sasuke was quick enough he could have pulled the whole thing off within a minute or two and been out the door except that Naruto happened to fall asleep right in the middle of his escape path.

"Damn," Sasuke hissed. Naruto watched as Sasuke started to hunch over while still running. Naruto wondered about it, even as he was three years ago Sasuke should have had no problem running with the added weight of a girl Hinata's size. There had to be something wrong but Naruto was willing to take any favor to get the girl back at this point, so when he saw an opportunity he reached into his holster and drew a kunai. Sasuke was moving straight so Naruto knew he could make the hit if he timed it right. When the opening appeared he gave the knife a new home deep inside Sasuke's leg.

"AHHH," Sasuke yelled again as he lost his footing and skidded to a stop away from the cliff edge.

"Sasuke," Naruto declared angrily as he finally closed the rest of the gap. He couldn't resist his impulses and punched the other boy in the face tossing him head over heels backwards. This was unfortunate for Hinata since Sasuke's grip held and he took her with him.

"Shit," Sasuke hissed to himself as he wiped blood from his face.

Naruto felt great satisfaction seeing the red flood he'd caused to run from the Uchiha's nose but oddly enough his emotions soon changed to concern. The darker boy was breathing far too heavily and he was clenching his teeth so fiercely that Naruto thought they were about to shatter.

"Sasuke?"

"Get back." He moved to stand but fell back down onto one knee.

"Sasuke, what's wrong with you?"

"I said stay the hell away." Sasuke threatened Naruto by exchanging the grip he had on Hinata's shoulder with her throat.

Naruto backed away hands out in front. Sasuke could easily snap Hinata's neck before he could get close enough to pull her away so he wasn't going to push his luck. They stood in silence like that for a few tense minutes. Their eyes shifting from each other to Hinata as each plotted their next move.

"I don't know what the hell you're problem is Sasuke but leave Hinata alone. I won't put up a fight and try to stop you so just leave."

Naruto took this chance to really take the sight of Sasuke in. He'd grown quite a bit in the last three years and was probably still taller with a longer reach if they came to blows but he didn't think he'd have to worry about it. If not for the current situation Naruto would probably try to coax his old friend to the doctor. He was beyond his normal shade of pale and his eyes were red even without his bloodline. Combined with the overlabored breathing and there was no hiding the face that Uchiha Sasuke was in terrible shape.

"Dammit you weren't supposed to be there. Why can't you do one predictable thing like sleeping in a bed?"

"Are you listening to me bastard?" Naruto felt a knot twist in the back of his mind as Sasuke ignored him. "I told you I'd let you go now just back off."

"I figured she'd scream so I was just taking her away from the house. I wasn't going to kill her."

"What!"

"I said I wasn't going to kill her."

Now Naruto traveled back mentally to age twelve where he'd left his old coping mechanisms for dealing with Sasuke.

"You weren't going to kill her so it's okay to break into a house and carry an unconscious girl off to god knows where in the middle of the night." Naruto pointed and shrieked in a shrill voice. "And you're complaining that I caught you, have you completely lost it. You're mind really has been warped by Orochimaru if you actually think that makes any sense."

"I said shut up you idiot."

"If I'm an idiot then you're a psychopath. You…"

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke yelled and activated his Sharingan in an obvious attempt to look menacing but failed miserably. The resistance that his body gave to the action was obvious to Naruto. When the three stars appeared they wavered and tried to shrink back into the safety of the Uchiha's pupil but Sasuke's sheer force of will kept them at the surface. In addition to that the dark boy's entire body started to tremble slightly making the already labored breathing seem even more pathetic.

"What are you trying to do Sasuke? Running off on your own is one thing but grabbing a girl and…Just what the hell are you up to?"

"You wouldn't understand and you'd only scream more of your god-damned nonsense at me if I told you anyway."

Naruto didn't say anything back. Instead he glared daggers back at his old teammate demanding an explanation without words.

"I can tell you've noticed how weak I am right now Naruto. Go ahead and laugh at me."

"What?"

Sasuke snorted at the reaction. "What was it you said back then...'do you think that Orochimaru will give you power for free Sasuke?' Well…does it finally satisfy you to see that you were right?"

"I was right. What are you talking about?"

"My body is…never mind it has nothing to do with you?"

"Sasuke," Naruto yelled.

"Your path and mine no longer cross. Stop chasing me I'm tired of it Naruto." He paused to look down at his captive. Naruto could see the mixed emotions playing across his features but as always there was no reading the other boy. "I need Hinata for something and it has nothing to do with you."

"Sasuke." Naruto was going to stomp forward angrily but suddenly found his body so heavy that he fell down on one knee much like his rival. He was about yell accusatory remarks at his old teammate when he saw the other boy fall onto his hands, obviously caught by the same technique.

"Well well, isn't this a pathetic scene?"

"Orochimaru," Sasuke questioned angrily.

The Uchiha boy bared his teeth again as the Sennin strolled up to him from the shadows. Naruto tried to free himself from the technique while the older man's back was turned but it became apparent that even Kyuubi's power was barred from him somehow.

"You know Sasuke-kun I'm growing quite frustrated with you. I don't recall giving you permission to go wandering about on your own."

"Since when do you care where I go?"

"I like to know where my favorite things are at all times. And really Sasuke-kun if you wanted to indulge in a Hyuuga you only needed to ask I could have sent someone to bring one to you."

Naruto's pulse began to race in fury when he saw that obscene tongue reach down and lift Hinata's face.

"Hyuuga Hiashi's eldest correct? Defiantly bred to have splendid eyes…and she's quite meek if I remember. Excellent choice now that I think about it. Well done Sasuke-kun."

"Get away from her you pervert."

"What's that Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru cocked his head to look at him.

"Hinata's a good girl. She doesn't need to be haunted by the memory of someone like you touching her."

"Oh is that what bothers you Naruto-kun." He nudged the girl's face with his foot so Naruto could see her blank expression once again. "The Red Moon technique of the Sharingan is truly amazing. It can shut down all your senses without causing any harm to the body. You made her completely unaware of everything didn't you Sasuke-kun?

Orochimaru grinned evilly at Naruto before drawing out his tongue again. To Naruto's horror that fifth appendage pulled up the hem of the shy girl's shirt and began stroking her midsection suggestively. "We could all have some pleasurable fun with her and she would have no memory if we wanted."

"STOP IT!" Naruto tried to lunge forward to protect the girl's innocence but the force of the paralyzing technique increased forcing him to fall face first into the dirt.

"You're reactions always amuse me Naruto-kun." Orochimaru chuckled as he drew the tongue back into his mouth. "Yes we can compare our young Hyuuga princess to a fine box of chocolates but sex would not be the indulgence that Sasuke-kun came to savor."

"What are you talking about," Naruto yelled.

"Sasuke-kun is a glutton for power…not pleasure. With the unfortunate turn that his health has taken Sasuke-kun needs a shortcut to power so he can get the revenge he so desires."

"It doesn't concern Naruto. And let me up." Sasuke glared at the Snake Sennin angrily until the power was lifted and the other teen visibly relaxed. He still felt weak so he tried to save his pride by staying on his knees rather then standing. While Naruto watched the two of them interact he came to the conclusion that Sasuke really had come on his own and was mad at Orochimaru for showing up. And if past experience had ever taught him anything he was sure that Kabuto and other Sound nins were probably nearby too. Unless Kakashi showed up soon he would have no choice but to try to release Kyuubi's power but he'd likely lose control fighting someone on Orochimaru's level.

"Well Sasuke-kun hurry up and drink the girl so we can go."

Naruto tensed hearing Orochimaru talk. There was no interpretation of that comment that he was comfortable with. Sasuke turned to look at Naruto for a second before letting out a sigh and shaking his head in defeat.

"I didn't want you to watch this," Sasuke glanced quickly at his old teammate before turning to the unconscious girl again.

Naruto began to yell at him again but Sasuke had become deaf to him. The blond could only watch as his old teammate pulled the girl up by the shoulders, locked eyes with her, and activate his bloodline. A minute or so passed without event and Naruto wondered if nothing would happen after all. That's when the signature veins of the Byakugan suddenly formed. Only seconds later identical veins formed around Sasuke's eyes and Naruto began to feel the danger flowing in the very air around him.

Hinata's body began to react and her voice broke into moans of pain that built up into frightened cries. She tried to turn her head turn away from his gaze but it didn't seem possible for her. Sasuke's body also began to shake from the strain of his actions. He clenched his teeth again and hissed through them to finish whatever it was he wanted to accomplish.

Finally Naruto saw the three stars in Sasuke's eye elongate and join the pupil forming an almost shrunken shape. When this happened he finally released the poor girl and covered his own face, grunting from the pain of his own transformation.

Hinata was free of him but her pain didn't seem to subside. Naruto knew because her mind had abandoned itself to survival instinct. She drew blood as she clawed at his shoulder with one hand while he tried to keep the other still by holding her wrist. Orochimaru for whatever reason released his body when Sasuke was done.

"Why Sasuke," Naruto asked desperately, "why did you do this to her?"

"I told you before…you wouldn't understand."

Naruto turned to see Sasuke on his hands and knees again, this time clutching his chest. He found no pity for his plight.

"You bastard you…"

Naruto's attention went back to Hinata when her entire body suddenly arched upwards violently. The movement frightened him and he let himself forget about Sasuke to consider how serious her condition was. She was beginning to shake, almost to the point of seizure. She also only seemed to be taking in tiny breaths but he didn't see her exhaling

"Hinata?"

"Oh dear it doesn't seem she's going to survive it." Orochimaru mused as he bent over them to look at Hinata. Naruto felt his feet held to the ground once again but he pulled the girl closer to himself seeing his approach.

"What are you talking about? I only took the power I needed she shouldn't be dying."

Orochimaru chuckled at this and snapped his fingers in front of Naruto's face to get him to look up.

"Sasuke-kun is so arrogant don't you think Naruto-kun?"

"Arrogant?"

"Yes Naruto-kun. He thought he could control how another person would respond to a bloodline reaction. Of course that's impossible, especially when you're dealing with a Byakugan this powerful." Orochimaru reached out and touched the veins surrounding Hinata's eyes. The power of the technique was crushing Naruto painfully and he couldn't stop the act. "Her bloodline is so over stimulated that her eyes are stealing chakra from the rest of her body. She's bound to have a massive heart attack and die anytime now."

"That wasn't supposed to happen."

"It wasn't supposed to happen." Angry tears finally escaped Naruto's eyes as he addressed Sasuke for a final time. "What was the point in the first place? What kind of pathetic piece of shit have you become that you would do this to someone? Huh, Sasuke?"

"I don't have time…If I have to face Itachi I have to do it now because….because…oh god…"

Naruto watched as Sasuke obviously succumbed to the pain in his chest. He fell down on his stomach, his hand still holding the spot over his heart. Deep rooted bonds compelled him to panic for his friend despite the sin he'd just committed.

"He's going to die too. A clash of eyes ends in double heart attack…how ironic."

"You put him up to this didn't you?" Naruto accused the old man.

"Not at all," Orochimaru monotoned. "As you can obviously see his body has become pathetically weak. I no longer desire it. However I did know what he was up to stalking around this place. I was bored so I thought I'd come watch."

"You came to watch."

"Well no, I suppose I did interfere a little bit." He laughed a bit as he recollected. "I did have some fun with genjustu last night when I planted thoughts of Sasuke in that girl's head. I thought I'd build you up for the confrontation a little bit…Oh yes and I cast another one to make you fall asleep where Sasuke-kun would run into you. You're reunion was quite amusing to watch you know."

"You sick bastard. I hope when the perverted hermit finds you and kills you he cuts off your arms and legs and makes you choke to death on your own balls."

"Hmm…that sounds more like Tsunade's murderous fantasy then Jiraiya's."

"Then I hope…"

He was cut off when the girl's body almost wormed its way out of his hold with the next attack.

"Hinata?"

Orochimaru laughed again and put his hand on top of Naruto's head as if he were a child.

"You always amuse me so much Naruto-kun. As a thank you I will give you a reward."

"Shut up you psychopath," he snapped freeing his forehead from the clammy hand.

"Oh but Naruto-kun you haven't heard it what it is yet."

"I don't want anything from you."

"How about one dead body instead of two?"

"What," Naruto gasped raising his head to meet the Sennin's gaze again.

"Somebody must die today, I demand it. However only one person has to die today." Naruto's eyes grew wide as he realized what the Snake was proposing to him. "What would amuse me today is to make you decide who will die.

Naruto looked down at Hinata who was still struggling for breath in his arms then to Sasuke who lay still on the ground but was staring at him with tired eyes that has reverted to their normal black.

"So who dies Naruto-kun…choose now."

------

Kakashi had been prepared for the worst when Rin told him Sasuke carried Hinata off. Naruto was gone so he had obviously pursued. Since the forest seemed to be free of fires and giant fox demons he hoped that the teen had somehow handled the situation. That's when Pakkun announced that he smelled blood and quite a bit of it.

A small once over of the tiny clearing told him that the danger was over. He walked up to Sasuke's fallen form and turned him over to examine the damage. His good eye widened when he saw a seal scrawled out over the left side of his face. He hadn't seen one since the war but was familiar enough with it to know it was for. Ignoring the anomaly at least for the moment he saw that his vitals were stable enough that his life was in no danger but he was certainly in no shape to resist him once he got around to binding the teen.

The easy task over he made his way to the other two. The survivor cradling the fallen in their arms.

"It's over. Time to let go and head back."

"NO!"

"There's nothing we can do."

"I don't know what happened Kakashi-sensei."

"That doesn't matter. At least you're alright."

"I don't care."

Kakashi gently tried pull the dead body away, pushing his own grief aside.

"Hinata…Naruto's dead, we can't do anything for him now."

"He can't be dead now. I don't want him to be dead."

"It's not your fault Hinata. Please, you have to let him go now."

She finally released Naruto's lifeless body and Kakashi was greeted with a full view of the hole in his chest that had ended his life. The heart had been ripped out in one whole piece, probably one of the few wounds that Kyuubi couldn't mend. Kakashi glanced around looking for the stolen organ but at most only saw bits of discarded ribcage.

"He took it."

To be continued:

Well were you expecting that?...What did you guys think of Sasuke in this chapter? Should I get bodyguards to protect me from Hinata fans for this one…hey I like her too…that's why she makes it out in the end.

Well thanks for reading everyone. As always please leave a review and let me know what you think of the story so far.

Oh and in case any of you read my author note and are thinking 'Bleach is nothing like this story so how did she get the idea after watching it.' Well when the anime first came out a few years ago I watched the first few episodes but stopped one before Rukia was taken back to soul society because I thought it wasn't going anywhere. But at the time I had a few random Naruto ff ideas and when I saw the hollows they sort of sparked an idea that now has combined about four or five ideas together to create Phantoms. (by the way phantoms are not hollows…very very different)


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own no part of Naruto.

Author's note: Yes yes I know…two months don't yell at me. I've been very busy lately going on interviews and buying my first place (it's a condo so I hesitate to say house…its an apartment I just happen to own it). So that also involves a lot of shopping for new things and a lot of trips to goodwill for all the stuff that won't fit. And I still don't close until Aug its crazy……Anyway I like this chapter even though I plan on redoing a few parts but I need to let my mind rest on it for a bit. In the meantime comments from the readers will help.

Also that's for all the help in the reviews guys. Your comments really do help me when I go back and rewrite these things. And chapter 10 officially has the most reviews of all the chapters so far so hooray.

Last time: Sasuke's attempt to kidnap Hinata is interrupted by Naruto and the two end up having a confrontation in the wood near Rin's house. Orochimaru has told Sasuke of an alternative to killing someone to obtain a stronger Sharingan but it involves stealing the power of a Hyuuga's Byakugan. What Sasuke didn't know was attempting this would kill the Hyuuga and most likely kill him since his body was in frail condition. Orochimaru tells Naruto that he can still save them but he still wants to watch somebody die, so he tells Naruto to decide who will die. When Kakashi arrives he finds Naruto dead and his heart is missing.

Phantoms

Chapter 11

"So are you going to talk to me at all Sakura, or are you just going to stare at my wall?"

"Sorry Ino. My mind is just all over the place lately."

"I've noticed."

Ino took a drink from her cup and turned away from her visitor to look out the window. Sakura knew why her friend was frustrated with her. She would probably be angry too if she were to suddenly wake from a coma and her best friend didn't visit or even bother to send a card for nearly two weeks.

"Tsunade-sama says you have to stay a little longer?"

"Yeah, they didn't know why I was in a coma anyway but I seem fine now. She just wants to observe me a little bit more."

"Shikamaru will be glad. I'm sure he'll deny it till the day he dies but he was really worried about you."

"If you say so."

Sakura's eyes darted around the room as she tried to think of something else to talk about. There was so little going on in their lives that wasn't painful.

"Have you heard from Naruto at all?"

"Ino I told you yesterday…I don't know where he is and I haven't talked with him."

Sakura tried to keep her face composed but her body always betrayed her when she tried to restrain her emotions. Ino seemed to notice it too.

"You look like a lost puppy whenever I mention him."

"Let's just…" Sakura looked at her hands and bit her tongue before she said too much. Even though she desperately wanted to pour her heart out to her best friend she couldn't. Naruto's death was classified and keeping the secret was killing her little by little. When Tsunade had called her to her office and told her she fell to the floor crying. Then learning that Sasuke might have been involved sent her into complete depression. That was the true reason she hadn't come when Ino woke up but of course she couldn't say so.

"Fine I won't bring Naruto up again if it bothers you that much."

"Thanks Ino." Sakura felt relieved for the moment but knew that her friend would forget that promise fast.

"So where are you going now. I hear you're still on that project that we were working on but people tell me you're not studying the bodies in the labs anymore. You're not treating patients either."

"You're nosy. How did you find that out when you're not allowed out of your hospital room?"

"I'm lovable, people like to visit me."

"Can't talk about it but thanks for reminding me…I'm late."

"Oh come on Sakura, let me in on the secret. Let's make up a code like little kids do. It'll be fun." Sakura cracked a bit of a smile seeing Ino act a bit more like her old animated self.

"How bout you mind you own damn business."

"No talking in code and secret locations sounds more interesting to on where do you go?"

"Stop it. You know I can't tell you." Sakura was starting to get a bit mad. Asking about secret mission information once is joking around, asking twice is a felony. And if she accidentally let anything slip about the isolated phantom victims or the underground laboratories Tsunade would snap her neck personally.

"Fine have your way Sakura. The nurse will be here to torture me any minute anyway."

As if on cue the door opened and a man pushing an equipment cart strolled into the room. Even though he kept his head bowed and attention on his chart Sakura didn't think it was a good idea to scold Ino while he was still in the room. She promised to visit for lunch again the next day and made her way to the prison ward of the hospital. The hall in this ward was mostly empty so the blond girl waited until she couldn't hear Sakura's footsteps anymore before she started laughing.

"Did you get it out of her."

"Yes…yes I did. I finally got her to think it. That girl needs to learn to protect her mind better."

"So why are you laughing?"

"Because Kabuto," she turned to the pale sound nin. "Because it's funny."

---------------------------------

Tsunade growled and looked to the clock impatiently. She was willing to cut Sakura some slack considering all the girl was going through but she wasn't amused by how much the teenager seemed to be taking advantage of it.

"Maybe we should just attempt without her," Shizune suggested quietly.

"No. Sasuke does not trust us and removing that damn seal from his face requires his cooperation."

"Hmm," Shizune mused to herself a bit. She knew that Tsunade was right. "Even if we remove it do you really think that he'll offer us any information on Orochimaru?"

"Well anything he tells us will be suspect but given that Orochimaru threw him out like trash I think he might want a little revenge. That's what he claims to live for anyway."

Tsunade ignored whatever it was that Shizune followed with. Instead she walked up to the Uchiha boy to readjust the sensors taped to his head. He'd been a model prisoner since he was brought back. He didn't fight, didn't threaten anything, he hadn't even attempted to escape, but the Hokage was sure that was because he realized that he had a seal on him that was impairing his brain. When he opened his mouth to speak nothing but garbled nonsense came out, the same sort of mess appeared on paper if he tried to write anything.

"Shizune I have to hand it to Orochimaru. This seal is flawless, the kid can't communicate with us at all."

"It's defiantly the highest level cognitive impairment seal we've ever documented Tsunade-sama. Even when he attempts to gesture and communicate nonverbally the seal seems to interfere."

Tsunade finished positioning a sensor over Sasuke's left temple and took a few steps back to take in the sight of him. He gave her an annoyed look, letting her know that he didn't appreciate being spoken of as if he wasn't in the room. That look, and million other expressions reminded her of Orochimaru when he'd been this age. Every time she came to see him there was something new that made her wonder if it was really Sasuke or her old teammate staring back at her.

There was no doubt that it was Sasuke if Hinata's memory could be trusted. The young girl had told a horrible story of awakening from her pain to see the Snake Sennin's face looming over her. He told her that Naruto had thrown his life away for hers and that it was her duty as a woman to weep over him. When she didn't respond he suggested reviving Naruto so she could watch Orochimaru murder him again. A threat that cruel could only be thought up in her teammate's twisted mind, and the girl watched him walk away.

"I'm here," Sakura called as she burst into the room. Wasting no time she ran to the sink to wash up for the procedure.

Tsunade didn't turn to greet her, but kept her focus on the teenage boy they had chained to a chair. He had twisted his head instantly to the sound of her voice. Sakura's presence always sparked a slew of emotions that Tsunade was trying to make sense of.

"Sorry I'm late Tsunade-sama. I was visiting Ino and…"

"Just begin."

Sakura twitched hearing the tone that accompanied that order. She turned to Sasuke and met his eye, he looked nervous.

It was true that Sasuke became agitated if anyone other then Sakura attempted to remove that seal but it wasn't the reason she was involved. She wanted to be present the second he was able to talk again. Naruto was dead and until she knew what Sasuke's intentions were that day she couldn't rest. More then that she wanted to know why Orochimaru had killed her teammate that way he had, and why had he taken Naruto's heart away. A dark vengeful feeling consumed her knowing that the boy she'd thought of like a brother way lying dead and incomplete in a morgue.

Shizune began calling out the readings from the sensory equipment. There was no seal sequence or scroll that could remove this seal, just pure chakra manipulation. Through pure trial and error Sakura was slowly learning how to break it down by pushing and pulling chakra from the seal. This was especially dangerous since the seal was meant to effect his brain, a small mistake could cause permanent damage.

It didn't help that this seal was on Sasuke's face. He could look her practically in the eye the entire session and that was a major distraction to Sakura. On this particular day something was different in the way he looked at her. She should have stopped the session when she felt her thoughts wander as she guessed what might be bothering him.

"SAKURA STOP!"

Shizune's scream snapped Sakura back to attention and she realized the grave error she had made. There was too much chakra flowing to his brain and he probably would have had a seizure if Tsunade hadn't intervened by healing him before the rupture could even form.

"Holy shit, I almost killed him." Sakura backed away and started pacing the room.

"Calm down it wasn't that serious. It happens all the time when dealing with chakra this delicate."

"No I was stupid and let myself become distracted."

"Sakura you're only human," Shizune reassured, "don't be so hard on yourself."

After taking a few minutes to calm down Sakura came back to see Sasuke seemed to be shaking it off.

"Sasuke I'm sorry that I got careless, I almost hurt you."

He attempted to talk but as usual it came out as nonsense. Sakura took his tone as an indication that he wasn't angry.

Tsunade examined him a bit more to confirm there was no damage but decided they should wait a few days before attempting to remove the seal again. This darkened Sakura's outlook, it just meant more time without answers to her.

"Well Kakashi should be coming momentarily to help you move him back to his cell Shizune. In the meantime Sakura and I have other business we need to attend to."

"Understood Tsunade-sama, I'll confirm Sasuke is stable before Kakashi returns him to his cell."

"Let's go then."

Sasuke yelled at their backs as Sakura and Tsunade left. As Sakura shut the door behind her she heard him repeat one word several times. Of course there was no way to know what that word meant but Sakura had come to believe that it was her name.

"He seems upset Tsunade-sama. Maybe we should check on him one more time before we go."

"He's fine. He just wants your attention because he believes you're his key to being cured."

"Maybe he has something he wants to say."

"Don't read into it too much. He gave himself permission to use people a long time ago. Look at Hyuuga Hinata for example. He thought nothing of ruining her life to meet his own agenda."

Sakura let out a disappointed sigh as she followed her teacher through the lower corridors of the hospital. There was more then one entrance to the underground lab and they would shorten their trip by using a different door.

"Gaara sent more scrolls with his chakra embedded into them today. I'd like you to work on patients today instead of…"

"No!" Sakura snapped even before Tsunade could finish her thought.

"Sakura I insist that you let me assign someone else. What you're doing is not normal, and it's not healthy."

"I'm not done." She glared at her teacher. "There are more techniques that have to be cast to fully preserve Naruto's body, and I will be the person who does it." They reached the door and Sakura angrily pushed in her code only to be frustrated by an error message telling her she'd already come in through the door in the Hokage tower. "No I didn't you stupid machine," she grumbled as she hit the reset button and re-entered the code to make the door open.

"Sakura I can understand your feelings but I'm worried about you."

"I realize that," she interrupted again. "And I'm grateful that you care but this is all I can do for Naruto now so please just let me do it."

Sakura knew her attitude and interrupting weren't helping her case but she couldn't let this be taken away. She wouldn't let him become like the other poor people who were laid to rest in that secret morgue, it was nothing more then a communal tomb for the forgotten.

When Tsunade brought her to say goodbye he was laid out on a table next to that Uchiha Obito boy. They'd taken his clothes away and he was made up with the same dull gray sweats as the others, a chart dangled off the side of the table and a paper tag around his wrist with his name neatly written. Sakura couldn't stand it. He was being turned into an object, just another body that Konoha was keeping around just in case. She just couldn't allow that to happen so she begged to take over the preservation of his body.

"Alright Sakura," Tsunade conceded.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama." Sakura quickly turned to leave before the older woman could attempt to stop her. She entered the morgue and stood by the closed door for a few minutes collecting her thoughts. She'd had more then enough emotion for one day after dealing with Ino, her teammates, and Tsunade. She looked forward to the end of the day so she could escape to sleep.

"I'm back Naruto." She began to stroll down the aisle flexing her stiff fingers to get ready for the task at hand. As she got closer she noticed that there was something white laying on his chest, a sharp contrast to his gray shirt. Curious she ran the rest of the way to him and gasped in disbelief when she was close enough to recognize what it was. "Oh my god…an explosive tag!"

"Don't scream now," whispered a voice as Sakura's mouth and arms were captured from behind. "If you make one sound above a whisper I'll detonate it."

"Kabuto," Sakura whispered venomously as he removed his hand from her lips.

"Yes that's the right volume Sakura-san." He waved the hand that had been covering her mouth in front of her so she could see the detonation seal inked on his palm, showing her that it was almost impossible to stop him from setting the tag off if he wanted.

"What do you want Kabuto?"

"Well before we get to that let me complement you. Your preservation of Naruto-kun's body is magnificent. Why if I didn't know that Orochimaru himself had killed him I'd expect him to sit up and yell at me."

"How did you get in here? You need a code to get through any door."

"Yes you do," he leaned forward so he could see her reaction. "Drunkhokage was the one I used."

"What but that's my…." Sakura paused, the computer had stopped her at the entrance and told her she'd signed in at another door. "How the hell did you get my code? I've never told it to anybody.

"That's a secret."

"Fine, so what do you want anyway?"

"Oh I just wanted to ask you how your research on Phantoms is going."

Sakura tried to remain calm. He was threatening her by making the ink of the tag flash, letting her know just how great his control was. She couldn't let him learn anything about their research so she thought she'd try turning the tables around.

"How do you even know about Phantoms Kabuto? That's secret village information that you would not have been part of during any time in your service here."

"Yes but Orochimaru-sama was the primary researcher of them during the war."

Sakura's eyes bulged and she twisted to look him in the eye to confirm. Tsunade had never said anything about the Snake Sennin studying the phenomenon.

"Yes Orochimaru-sama knows more about Phantoms then most do."

"So that's it. Orochimaru is the one summoning the Phantoms huh?

"Oh you can't summon them Sakura-san. They just appear whenever the conditions are right. But….let me show you something interesting."

------------------------------------

"Still nothing from the Uchiha brat Tsunade?"

"Sakura's doing her best Jiraiya but I've had no time to prepare her for a removal technique like this in her training. It's going to take her awhile."

Jiraiya rolled his head and cursed to himself. Tsunade chose to ignore it until he was done. He would surely demand that she attempt to remove the seal again herself which she knew Sasuke wouldn't allow. She was also frustrated that Orochimaru had practically dropped the Uchiha in their laps only to slap a seal on him that made him an incoherent pile of information. She just didn't know what to do.

"Tsunade," Jiraiya shook her to break her out of her thoughts.

"Jiraiya, what the hell?"

"I said what is this presence?"

Tsunade paused and opened up her senses to feel the chakra around her. Jiraiya was right there was something unusual nearby, it was easier to pick it out in an isolated underground area like this but was still faint.

"What do you think it is Tsunade?"

"I have no idea."

She may have begun to speculate had the entire complex not been racked with piercing screams. The walls echoed making it hard to tell which direction the screams were coming from but instinct that was almost divine in its power drove Tsunade to the morgue where she knew her younger apprentice was. Slowed down by the winding corridors the wails faded before she reached the door. Too impatient to deal with the security system Tsunade shattered the door with her fist.

The dim emergency light were all she had to see by as she entered the room and made her way to where Naruto's body lay.

"Sakura, where are you? What happened?"

"My goodness it's so disturbing up close."

Tsunade turned to the sound of the voice to see the partially illuminated face of Kabuto smiling back at her. "You!"

"These Phantoms certainly are sloppy."

With his words the smell and taste of blood in the air finally hit her. She didn't need to confirm it, she knew that her apprentice was dead.

Her shock was instant and paralyzing. Luckily for her Jiraiya had taken command of the situation. He captured Kabuto and began ordering the guards and doctors who worked in the lab to investigate and deal with the damage She'd wandered out to the hallway and sat on a bench letting the loss of her most precious student sink into her mind. After eternity seemed to pass her by Jiraiya sat next to her.

"Jiraiya…was there anything left of her?"

He bowed his head and sighed.

"An arm…the right arm."

"Oh god…What do I tell her parents. They're not even ninjas they never understand these sorts of things."

"That's not all Tsunade."

"What else."

"It took Naruto's body too."

Elsewhere in Konoha Kakashi stared at Uchiha Sasuke in bewilderment. Showing a complete breach of character his traitor student had tears running down his face.

To be continued:

So if you were paying attention you do know how Kabuto got the code to open the doors. No I'm not an anime serial killer, all these deaths have a point. A major event is coming in either this chapter or the next so keep reading.

So let me know what you think please. Was what happened to Sakura surprising enough? How bout Sasuke in this chapter? And I'm just curious what theories you guys might have about Orochimaru taking Naruto's heart.

Thanks for reading, please leave a review and let me know what you think.


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